Japan: Osaka – Shabu shabu

After our visit to the aquarium, it was time for dinner. There was an opportunity for us to try fugu, but neither Alastair nor I thought it was worth it – both price wise and risk wise! So we had shabu shabu instead.

(For those interested, I’m told that fugu is a very firm, white fish that has a mild flavour. Everyone we knew who tried it survived – phew!)

Shabu shabu is cool! It’s pretty much a hot pot where paper thin slices of meat and vegetables are cooked in a broth at the table. Shabu shabu roughly means “swish swish” which refers to the sound of the meat being swished through the broth.

Shabu shabu

We received personal little cookers of broth to cook the meat and vegetables. Too bad I didn’t get an action shot of the swish swish!

Shabu shabu

And here is my plate of meat and a few chopped vegetables. Look at that beef – isn’t it beautiful. It was so tender after a quick cook in the liquid.

Shabu shabu

There was dipping sauce for the meat – very nutty and sesamey.

Shabu shabu

A couple of pieces of rather good sashimi, beautifully presented.

Shabu shabu

We also received some tempura. There were long beans, a prawn, and I think that item on the left was a mushroom.

Shabu shabu

Have you figured out from my posts so far that it’s not a Japanese meal without chawanmushi (savoury steamed egg custard)?

Shabu shabu

Nor is a meal complete without pickles and rice.

When everything was brought out, we had a serious lack of table space! Fortunately I’m good at Tetris, so managed to shuffle things around to fit it all in. We were so full afterwards – it was another great meal.

Coming up next time: Okonomiyaki showdown. Oh yes!