Tōnyū nabe is a Japanese hot pot featuring tender chicken thigh and vegetables simmered in a creamy soy milk broth infused with dashi, delivering a rich yet delicate sweetness that distinguishes it from traditional meatier hot pot styles.
Check what you already have. We'll leave it off your shopping list.
CookOS may earn a commission from Instacart orders.
Prices vary by store
*Service fees apply. Instacart® and the Instacart logo are registered trademarks of Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart.
Chinese cabbage: Trim off the end of the stem and cut the leaves perpendicular to the direction of the leaf into 3cm/1⅛" wide strips.
Carrot: Slice into 4-5cm/1½-2" long, 2-2.5cm/¾-1" wide, and 3mm/⅛" thick planks.
Shiitake mushrooms: Trim the end of the stem off. You may want to decorate the cap by making cross incisions, then make V-shape cuts along these lines. If the cap is large, halve or quarter the mushroom so that it is not too large to eat.
Shimeji mushrooms: Trim the cluster base and separate the mushrooms into small clusters.
Aburaage: Cut it crosswise into 1.5cm/⅝" wide strips.
Tofu: Cut into 4 equal blocks.
Green onion: Diagonally slice the stems into 5-7cm/2-2¾" long pieces.
Mix dashi stock, mirin, and light soy sauce in a bowl.
Place chicken pieces, the stem part of the Chinese cabbage pieces, carrots, mushrooms, tofu, and the white part of green onion pieces in the pot, clustering each ingredient together.
Pour the dashi broth over the ingredients in the serving pot, place a lid on and bring it to a boil. When it starts boiling, remove the lid.
Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for about 5 minutes until chicken pieces and the vegetables are almost cooked. You may need to jiggle ingredients, particularly the meat, a bit to submerge the uncooked parts in the broth.
Add the remaining Chinese cabbage leaves and the green onions to the pot, gently push downwards to get to the broth level. Cook for a minute or so.
When the cabbage leaves and green onion pieces start wilting, add soy milk to the pot and gently stir without breaking the clustered vegetables. If you jiggle the meat/vegetables with your chopsticks/spoon in various places, the milk will mix.
When the broth starts bubbling around the edge, reduce the heat to low. When the broth starts boiling, turn the heat off.
Bring the pot to the centre of the table with a ladle and serve with individual small bowls.
To eat, transfer some meat and vegetables with the soy milk broth from the serving pot into your bowl.
Store leftover broth and ingredients separately in airtight containers for up to 3 days; reheat gently on stovetop over medium-low heat without boiling to preserve soy milk texture.
hot pot or shallow braising pot (donabe or stainless steel) · ladle
Yes, but chicken thigh is preferred because it stays tender during the 5-minute simmer and adds more flavor to the broth. Breast meat can dry out if overcooked.
After cooking chicken and vegetables for 5 minutes, add the Chinese cabbage leaves and green onions, let them wilt (about 1 minute), then pour in 300–375ml soy milk and stir gently before bringing to a gentle boil.
Prepare all ingredients in advance and store in airtight containers. Do not combine the dashi broth and soy milk until ready to cook, as soy milk can separate if stored mixed.
Aburaage adds a subtle texture and absorbs broth well. You can omit it or substitute with an extra sheet of tofu or a small handful of enoki mushrooms for similar effect.
Once soy milk is added, the broth is brought to a gentle boil to combine flavors, then heat is reduced to low to prevent the soy milk from breaking or developing a bitter taste from extended boiling.
