Nabemono dishes are a hearty wintertime specialty, prepared from fish, seafood, chicken, meat and/or vegetables in a bubbling cauldron right at your table. Serving trays piled high with raw ingredients arrive at the table, then everyone pitches in with the cooking, finally eating together out of the communal pot. Nabemono restaurants are very down-to-earth places, usually with a rustic decor reflecting nabemono's origins in Japan's rural farming regions. Nabemono are also served in pub-style izakaya restaurants, in places specializing in regional cuisines, and in private homes.

There are many different types of nabemono, depending on the ingredients used. Oysters, scallops, cod, salmon, turtle, and chicken are all popular. Chanko-nabe, a variety made with chicken, seafood, potatoes, and other vegetables, is the staple diet of Japan's sumo wrestlers. (It's quite filling, as you might expect.) Another special type of nabemono is the internationally known beef sukiyaki.

Since nabe dishes are cooked quickly, the individual ingredients maintain their flavor and identity. Diners can enjoy a succession of different tastes and textures as various vegetables and pieces of seafood are pulled out of the pot and eaten. As the meal progresses, the cooking liquid absorbs more and more flavors from the foods being cooked.

Eating Nabemono

Dining on nabemono in a restaurant is a participatory experience, since everyone at the table does the cooking. Each table is equipped with a small gas burner (or a portable charcoal hibachi burner at traditional restaurants). The burner is lit and a big pot of cooking broth is set on top. Once the liquid starts bubbling you can add food to the pot piece by piece.

Fish, prawns, and various mushrooms and fungi should be added first, since they take the longest to cook. Very crisp vegetables, such as carrots, can also be added at this stage. Seasonings such as scallions, grated radish, and red pepper are added to your own private dish of ponzu-tare (a citrus-flavored soy-based dip) rather than to the communal pot.

The most delicate ingredients (such as tofu and chrysanthemum leaves) should be cooked just before you eat them. Watch them carefully and pull them out quickly, otherwise they'll overcook and fall apart. The meal will usually end with udon noodles or rice -- these are added to the pot to soak up the remaining liquid, which is by then quite flavorful. One more cooking tip -- usually there's a wooden spoon that you can use to skim the foam off the top of the bubbling liquid.

Nabemono dishes are most popular in the late fall and winter months. A few varieties like beef sukiyaki can be found all year round. Exotic meats such as wild boar, venison, and horsemeat are often cooked nabemono-style, and these can be found in Japanese regional restaurants.