Vegetable Shabu Shabu in Kombu-Ginger Broth Recipe (2024)

Hi Caroline, shabu shabu meant to similar to a chinese/korean hot pot. The pot with all the broth in it is kept over a flame, and then you add the raw ingredients in small portions and then when they are cooked, put into a smaller bowl with some of the broth, and eat it as a soup but use chopsticks to dip the veggies into the side sauce as much or as little as you like. Then keep adding more ingredients to the pot to cook as you're eating the small bowl.

Shabu shabu is not a soup, the liquid is to create a hotpot for the solid foods that are being cooked - you pull out the tofu, mushrooms etc. then use the dipping sauce.

Hi. This looks amazing. Is the dipping sauce really meant as a condiment to be added to the soup?

When I've seen shabu shabu videos on YouTube, it seems the sauce is used as a dip for the ingredients rather than being added directly to the soup. :) It seems like a way to get a variety of tastes out of one bowl.

Thanks to all those who responded to Caroline explaining what "shabu shabu" is, and how to eat this dish. I'm sure I'm not the only one who had never heard of it, and thought it was a soup. This should have been explained.

This was delicious and the veggies come out with a great texture. Skipped the daikon, and wanted some carbs so I subbed good quality ramen noodles for tofu, boiling them separately adding them at the last minute of the veggies simmering. Tried dipping the veggies/noodles in the sauce and adding a bit of sauce to a bowl of soup, both were tasty.

The dipping sauce is amazing! Of note, this recipe didn’t halve well—not quite enough broth—but that’s easily adjusted. Many recipes don’t halve well. I swapped sliced chicken for the tofu and had a fantastic meal.

I'm going to experiment with this. I'm not a fan of tofu or daikon, but it looks to me like subbing those out, e.g cubed chicken, maybe celery? Carrot? Something with crunch factor. Anyway, looks like a tasty soup and I'll be interested to see how other cooks approach it.

We ate this as written but with the addition of red chilies on top. Really restorative.

Broth was gross and bland. Manages to repurpose the veggies for ramen

I made too much! What's the best way to store leftovers?

Any recommendations for a good brand of kombu? On all the packages of kombu I find at my local Asian grocer, there is a disclaimer that cancer causing chemicals are used to preserve or process.

Shabu shabu translates to swish swish, the sound made as you swirl your veggies or meat through simmering kombu broth. By definition this is not that, but it has traditional ingredients. Udon noodles are often offered and very thinly sliced meats which are dipped into a sesame sauce.

Perfect Sunday evening soup, subbed in Beech Mushrooms and Purple Daikon and it looked at gorgeous as it tasted!

The packet of kombu I bought only had 7.5 Oz so I added wood ear mushrooms to make up the difference. Was a little bland after simmering and adding salt- not enough umami flavor, so I added a couple pinches of msg. Turned out tasty!

This is a great family/social dinner. My first experience with Shabu Shabu, and really appreciated how the process of dipping the vegetables in the sauce slowed down the meal and nurtured conversation. The broth was surprisingly special given the simplicity of the ingredients. And very satisfying!

Amazing recipe. Loved it! Lovely flavors and so healthy. I added a bit of the dipping sauce to the broth and ate like a soup.

We ate this as written but with the addition of red chilies on top. Really restorative.

This was delicious and the veggies come out with a great texture. Skipped the daikon, and wanted some carbs so I subbed good quality ramen noodles for tofu, boiling them separately adding them at the last minute of the veggies simmering. Tried dipping the veggies/noodles in the sauce and adding a bit of sauce to a bowl of soup, both were tasty.

The dipping sauce is amazing! Of note, this recipe didn’t halve well—not quite enough broth—but that’s easily adjusted. Many recipes don’t halve well. I swapped sliced chicken for the tofu and had a fantastic meal.

Kombu has too much iodine. Can another sea vegetable be used instead?

Hi. This looks amazing. Is the dipping sauce really meant as a condiment to be added to the soup?

I'm going to experiment with this. I'm not a fan of tofu or daikon, but it looks to me like subbing those out, e.g cubed chicken, maybe celery? Carrot? Something with crunch factor. Anyway, looks like a tasty soup and I'll be interested to see how other cooks approach it.