I knew from the moment I heard that Harris Salat had a new cookbook being released called Japanese Hot Pots, that I had to deliver.

You see, ever since I was dating my husband, back in the mid-70’s, I was enjoying Japanese food. Sushi wasn’t so popular back then, but I could not get enough Sukiyaki: I loved cooking at the table and especially when we ate at the Tokyo Sukiyaki on Mountain Sights in Montreal, as soon as you walked through their front door, you felt as if you had just landed in Tokyo.

They made you take off your shoes and put on sandals. Then ushered you into a cubicle where, prior to entering the curtained opening, it was obligatory to remove said sandals. Then you hopped up onto a flat bamboo mat, slipped your feet through the opening and plopped your ass onto a homemade pillow. Your feet dangled so that the table came midway to the waist, a good thing for westerners who did not like to kneel.

Once seated each time the waitress entered she took her shoes off and bowed, never speaking a word of English. Of course that was par for the effect; but that never dawned on us twenty-sumptins that she was fully born and bred in Montreal.

They didn’t serve sushi there until many years later, but the Sukiyaki sits in memory as a comfort food for me and will until I die.

Of course, getting up to leave was a whole other story what with the crawling around on bended knees to stand up. Oh and with curtains closed there was a lot of smooching and fun sexually charged touchy feely going on with pure innocence attached. No, I did not join the Tokyo Sukiyaki mile high club - whatever.

I continually do Hot Pots. I have two of the table top burners, lots of chopsticks and a special Le Creuset that I use instead for my Nabemono. Another specialty I love is Shabu Shabu.

For the first time, if any of you have read my other posts, I took a whole set of once decorative copper pots and pans and decided to make use of them for ‘real’.  This required boiling off the laquer in an arduous fashion which left my once gorgeous pots looking like ugly toads.  Yet, there is nothing that retains heat like a copper pots and so, for the first time I switched out my Le Creuset for my Old Dutch.

The list of ingredients can be endless; it’s the broth that becomes important in a Hot Pot.

The broth I used for this Hot Pot was a cheat. I did what nobody shopping is supposed to do and bought a never-before-seen item.

However, it induced this recipe and this post.

I used a can of Thai flavoured ‘fondue’ sauce which I then doctored up with 1/3 cup of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of Sake, diluted dashi broth concentrate equalling 1 cup.

If truth be said, I have enjoyed my ‘from scratch’ broth much more than the Thai I used, but it was still a tasty soup.

I then put all ingredients on the stove until it was piping hot and then placed it onto the burner at the table.

On platters around the table, Family Style, I placed squares of Tofu, baby Bok Choy, mushrooms, scallions and already steamed udon noodles. Every person got a bowl of rice and a bowl with a freshly beaten egg to dip into.

Plus one full plate of the thinly sliced beef which I had the Japanese Grocer choose and cut for me. The rule of thumb for Hot Pot when using beef is to use the best cut of beef you can buy: it needs to have a little fat but the importance of being the best cut is that when cooked in such a short period of time it retains its silky soft texture and is pleasurable for the palate.

DO NOT BUY FONDUE BEEF THAT IS FROZEN AND IS READILY AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL GROCER. That meat becomes so rock hard that it is utterly tasteless and rock hard to chew.

As well as each person getting a portion of dipping sauce, the recipe as follows:

Dipping Sauce

3 tablespoons tamari dark soy

1 teaspoon hot mustard, from Asian foods aisle or other prepared mustard

2 teaspoons seasoned rice wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Siracha or to taste

1 teaspoon of sesame seeds black and white mixed and toasted.

The procedure, since it was Family Style, was everyone helped place the food into the simmering broth, allowing time to cook, then with a spider spoon (any large spoon is good to use) we scooped out what we wanted to eat.

With the raw egg, any hot broth and hot food added to it, cooked it immediately and the ultimate result was a coating that provided a more silky texture to add to the rice, dip and then eat.

This dinner turned into an hour and a half, and the conversation hasn’t been this diverse and this full of animation since the last holiday meal.

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Tags: broth, dipping sauce, Harris Salat, Hot Pot, rice, scallions, tofu, Tokyo Sukiyaki, udon noodles