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Motsunabe is a Japanese offal hot pot recipe that turns tender beef or pork offal, cabbage, garlic chives, and rich broth into a hearty shared meal. This dish usually starts with a savory soup base made from dashi, soy sauce, miso, garlic, sake, chili, or sesame to balance the deep flavor of the offal. Cabbage adds sweetness, garlic chives bring fresh aroma, and ingredients like tofu, bean sprouts, sliced garlic, mushrooms, or chili flakes make the pot more layered and satisfying. As everything simmers together, the offal becomes tender while the vegetables soften and release flavor into the broth. The final motsunabe is warm, rich, and comforting, often finished with champon noodles or rice so none of the flavorful soup goes to waste.
Transcript
00:00If you're curious about trying offal but the idea is a bit intimidating,
00:04then you must try this Japanese Mosunabe. It's made with tender pieces of beef intestine
00:10that not only melts in your mouth but also melts in the broth giving it a rich flavour
00:15and distinct sweetness. I'm going to start by preparing 200g of small beef intestines.
00:22It can be hard to cut with a knife so I use kitchen scissors to cut it into small pieces.
00:27Try to keep them about by size. It's important that you use small beef intestines because this part
00:34is the most fatty, plump and tender. Some restaurants may include other parts in the mixed Mosunabe
00:40like the large intestine, stomach parts or tripes such as a mason, rumen and so on but those are optional.
00:49Fresh small intestine of beef has pinkish muscles with visible milky fat and collagen. Keep in mind
00:55that it can darken over time if not properly treated so when selecting Motu, look for the pink colour
01:01and fat with a clear and milky white appearance.
01:11Once they're cut, fill the bowl with fresh water and swirl them around a bit to clean them.
01:20When the water turns cloudy, drain it by pouring the Motu into a sieve,
01:26then place the sieve into a pot of boiling water for 10 seconds.
01:30After 10 seconds, carefully lift it up and transfer them to a fresh bowl of cold water.
01:44These are nice and clean now, so we can set them aside for later.
01:48Next, we're going to make the broth. Take a large pot and add 800ml of dashi stock,
01:542 tablespoons of Chinese chicken bouillon powder, 4 tablespoons of light soy sauce,
02:003 tablespoons of mirin, 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of sake,
02:081 teaspoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of great ginger root,
02:15and 1 teaspoon of great garlic. Give it a mix and then bring it to a boil over medium heat.
02:22As always, all ingredients and exact measurements for this recipe can be found in the description
02:28box below. Although my recipe uses a soy sauce-based broth, it's worth mentioning that Motunabe
02:33comes in different flavours and there are miso or salt versions too. Some restaurants even offer pork
02:40or chicken offal instead, but it's not as common as beef. Once the broth is boiling, reduce the heat
02:46to a simmer and add 250g of roughly cut cabbage, 50g of thinly sliced buttercream, 150g of cubed tofu,
03:01and the washed beef intestines. Let it cook until the vegetables are slightly softened.
03:13It's worth mentioning that the natural water content of the cabbage plays a crucial role in controlling
03:19the broth's saltiness in this recipe, that's why it's important to use the amount stated. If you reduce
03:25the cabbage, you should also reduce the amount of soy sauce, and if you can't get bird fruit, carrots are
03:32a good substitute.
03:34Once it's cooked, sprinkle the top with 100g of garlic chives,
03:41one or two thinly sliced dried red chilli peppers, some fried garlic chips,
03:50and some sesame seeds. In a restaurant, this is typically how Motunabe would be served and then
03:58you would continue to cook it on the stove in the middle of the table. We're not in a restaurant,
04:04so I'm going to ruin the nice presentation and mix it up so that the garlic and chilies add more
04:10flavour
04:10to the broth. Let it bubble for a few more minutes and then you can dish up.
04:21I usually add one teaspoon of ground sesame to each serving bowl and then add the soup and ingredients.
04:28But the dish doesn't finish there, so I'll tell you a little about Motunabe before the final step.
04:35Motunabe has roots in the coal mines of Fukuoka Prefecture in post-war Japan. At the time,
04:41offal was seen as a waste, but miners combined these organ meats with whatever vegetables they
04:47could find to make a hearty hotpot amid widespread food shortages. This dish was a real lifesaver,
04:56offering affordable and protein-rich food to workers doing tough physical work. Motunabe
05:02died out as a simple miner's meal and has since become a much-loved Hakata speciality that is well-loved
05:10across Japan. If I'm honest, I was reluctant to eat offal when I was young, but as I got older,
05:17I found I really liked it, especially Mosunabe. Even my wife, who used to stay clear of organ meats
05:24altogether, fell in love with this Mosunabe. Okay, once you've eaten up all of the ingredients,
05:31it's time for my favourite part, adding ramen noodles. Cook your ramen noodles in a separate pot
05:38of boiling water, then drain and wash them before adding them to the soup. Don't be tempted to add
05:44uncooked noodles straight to the broth, it will become thick and starchy.
05:53Now you can enjoy the last of the soup with noodles. No Mosunabe is complete without this step,
06:00in my opinion. And that's it, how to make the ultimate Mosunabe at home. Perfect for awful fans
06:09and first timers alike. Want even more delicious recipes? Grab my free cookbook from the link in the
06:16description. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you like to read the written version of this recipe,
06:23you can find it on my blog, the link is on the screen. If you loved this video, don't miss
06:28my winter
06:28recipe playlist popping up on your screen right now. I hope to see you in the next one. Thank you
06:33for
06:34watching. Bye.
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