It’s winter, so I keep craving nabe. A friend came to visit for the first time in a while, so we went to Tenkomori, a chanko nabe place near my home that’s a bit hard to get a reservation at.
Otoshi
Chicken breast tataki. Maybe because it was made ahead of time, it tasted just so-so…
Sesame
You dip the hot-pot ingredients in this. An unusual flavor. I don’t remember ever using it except for dipping tonkatsu.
The nabe with its lid on
Chanko nabe is what sumo wrestlers eat to bulk up. Apparently they usually eat a whole pot of this at every meal. We ordered three servings, mind you.
Here’s what’s inside..
Light, clean, and full of nourishment. But for warming up on a winter night it had too little kick. The nabe I had in Matsue before was far better. I’ll have to go back there next time.
Scallops and squid legs grilled in butter
They said it was the day’s special, so we ordered it, but it was a bit greasy.
Finishing the nabe isn’t the end, of course. Ramen goes in, one shot
Even when you’re full, you’ve got to eat what has to be eaten. The chanko nabe was tasty enough, but I kept thinking of the saengtae-tang (fresh pollack stew) I used to have in Korea. When it comes to winter hot pots, Korea really is the best. Of course, nabe aside, I’ll still have to take on this year’s winter delicacy, snow crab.
Posting regularly on a blog is harder than I thought. Power bloggers these days really keep on top of things – regular updates and so on – which I could never imitate. My work naturally swings between busy and quiet stretches (though lately it’s been busy nonstop), so once things calm down again I’ll think seriously about how to run this blog. For now I’ll have to be satisfied with just keeping a list of the restaurants and dishes I’ve eaten at, more or less.