Hot pot weather is here in the Northern Hemisphere! Today, I want to introduce you to a popular regional hot pot dish that highlights fresh seafood and in-season vegetables. Known as Ishikari Nabe (石狩鍋), this Salmon Hot Pot is a must-try comfort food from Hokkaido, Japan. The dish features some unusual ingredients that are not seen in a typical hot pot. Can you guess? Let’s take a look!
Ishikari Nabe – Hokkaido’s Regional Hot Pot
Ishikari nabe (石狩鍋) is a hot pot meal native to Hokkaido and it utilizes local ingredients like fresh salmon (sometimes trout), onion, potatoes, daikon, cabbage, and corn. The soup stock is made from locally cultivated kombu and seasoned with miso. A hot pot specialty restaurant called Kindaitei (金大亭) in Ishikari City created this hot pot in the Meiji era. It was a meal for the fishermen who caught fresh salmon in Ishikari River (sounds similar to the popular seafood stew Cioppino made for fishermen in San Francisco!). The restaurant cooked chopped-up salmon in a white miso-based soup and added local potatoes, onion, and cabbage. They are considered Western vegetables and definitely not your typical hot pot ingredients! In Hokkaido, Ishikari nabe is served in many restaurants and also at home. Everyone cooks it slightly differently so the flavor and ingredients vary, but all Ishikari nabe is always cooked with salmon or trout and vegetables in a miso-based broth.
Is This Similar to Sanpeijiru?
For those who are familiar with Hokkaido cuisine, you might have already heard of sanpeijiru (三平汁). Sanpeijiru is more like a soup made with raw salted salmon (instead of raw salmon in Ishikari nabe), potatoes, and daikon. The soup stock is made with salmon scraps (bones, belly, head, etc.) and seasoned with just salt. No addition of miso in sanpeijiru.
Ingredients for Hokkaido Salmon Hot Pot
Salmon Potatoes Onion Daikon radish Corn Carrot Cabbage Chrysanthemum leaves Negi (long green onion) Shiitake Mushrooms Tofu The Broth – kombu dashi The Miso Sauce– miso, mirin, sake, and soy sauce.
Another unique ingredient added to the hot pot is butter! Hokkaido is well-known for its delicious and high-quality dairy products. You would add a thick pat of butter on top of the hot pot after the ingredients are cooked. The butter melts away quickly, giving the broth a rich, creamy, and mildly sweet flavor. The sansho pepper powder (山椒) is typically served at the table for sprinkling over individual serving. This strong fragrance and flavor are known to mask the fishy smell. Some variations of Ishikari nabe include sake lees (sake kasu) and milk in the hot pot.
Which Miso Is Best for Salmon Hot Pot
For this Ishikari Nabe recipe, I used Organic White Miso from Hikari Miso. I consider the miso my all-rounded condiment as its mellow flavor goes well with almost all recipes, from miso soup to grilled fish to salad dressing. If you already have a tub of miso in your refrigerator, you can use it too. The flavor profile will be slightly different as each miso type has different saltiness and flavors. However, I would avoid using hatcho miso or saikyo miso as they have a unique taste and may not work well in this hot pot.
How to Make Hokkaido Salmon Hot Pot
How to Enjoy Salmon Hot Pot – Cooking in 2 Stages
Cooking in the Kitchen
We normally cook all ingredients in the hot pot over the portable stove on the dining table. For Salmon Hot Pot, however, I recommend pre-cooking any root vegetables first for 10-15 minutes before bringing the pot to the table. Root vegetables such as potatoes, onion, and daikon take some time to cook, so give them a head start.
Cooking at the Table
After you finish cooking the hard vegetables, set up the portable stove at the table and bring the pot over. Prepared ingredients should be on a large platter or smaller plates and placed around the hot pot. You also need to bring out communal cooking utensils (ladle, fine-mesh skimmer, long cooking chopsticks, etc.) and individual bowls. When everyone is at the table, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and cook for 10 minutes, or until each ingredient is cooked through. While waiting, people can enjoy small side dishes along with drinks. Typically, there are more ingredients than they can fit in the pot, so add them to the pot in stages as you eat in. There are no official “hot pot rules,” but it is courteous to take out and divide all the cooked food before adding raw or uncooked ingredients to the same pot. It is also considered a kind gesture to pick up some food from the pot and serve it to the person sitting near you.
Can I Use an Electric Hot Pot?
A Few Tips on Cooking Hokkaido Salmon Hot Pot
First, make a smooth miso sauce in a separate bowl instead of dissolving it directly into the soup broth. This eliminates any chunks of miso paste. Remove kombu right before boiling. Kombu releases bitterness and sliminess when you leave it in the broth. If you want more flavor, I recommend cold-brewing kombu dashi. Then slowly heat up to extract more flavor. The used kombu can be repurposed to make Simmered Kombu or Homemade Furikake (rice seasoning). Skim the foam and scum on the surface of the broth for a cleaner, sophisticated taste. Add more miso sauce as ingredients continue to release moisture and dilute the soup flavor. Lastly, when the soup is running low, add water (or kombu dashi). Adjust the broth by adding more miso.
More Hot Pot Recipes You’ll Enjoy
Sesame Miso Hot Pot Mizutaki (Chicken Hot Pot) Shabu Shabu Kimchi Gyoza Nabe
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
