[Cod Hot Pot]

The recent cold wave has made many of you feel chilly and cold. I was thinking “It hasn't snowed at all this season” and “It will be spring like this” in Hokkaido, but in no time at all, we were hit with snow as usual or even more, and I realized that there is always a “balance of the books.” In Hokkaido, where the weather is bitterly cold, people warm themselves up with “cod hot pot” using cod, a fish that comes in season during this cold winter.

Cod is a fish that is abundant along the coast of northern Japan, and there are three main types of cod eaten in Japan: cod, Alaska pollock, and komai. Cod is used in cod hot pot, and is sold in winter when it is in season as fillets, chunks, or half-fleshed fish. Sold together with it are cod milt, which is called “tachi” in Hokkaido. Cod milt is sold as “ma-dachi” and Alaska pollock milt as “suke-dachi.” Pollack itself is often processed into surimi, etc., and is not seen in fish fillets, etc. However, since the price of pollack milt is a little lower than that of cod milt, it can easily be used as an ingredient in miso soup, etc. And pollack ovaries are processed into the familiar “cod roe” and “spicy cod roe.” Komai, described as “fish under ice,” is a small cod sold exclusively as dried fish. The dried fish is hard and difficult to eat, but it is a popular snack with alcohol, and when eaten with mayonnaise and shichimi (seven spices), the more it is chewed, the more flavorful it becomes.

And then there is “cod hot pot,” often eaten in the winter in Hokkaido. It is a nabe with filleted cod, or if you prefer, ma-dachi or suke-dachi, and there are no particular rules for seasoning or ingredients, and each household is free to make it as they wish. Basically, the soup stock made from kelp is seasoned with sake, soy sauce, salt, etc., and vegetables that are hard to cook, such as root vegetables, are added first, and then simmered, with cod fillets added at the same time as leafy greens such as Chinese cabbage, tofu, and shirataki mushrooms to heat through. The secret is to add the cod fillets later, because cod meat is soft and will fall apart if it is simmered too long. The secret is to add the cod fillets later. The fish should be cooked just before eating at the very end. If you cook them too long, they will melt and disappear... If the dashi is lightly seasoned, it is eaten with ponzu (Japanese citrus juice), but cod goes well with any seasoning, so you can easily make it using commercially available nabe tsuyu. Kimchi nabe is also recommended, and if you put in cod, of course, but also taro, its thick creaminess goes well with the spiciness of kimchi nabe.

If you are worried about the fishy smell, sprinkle some salt on the cod and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then wipe off the water with kitchen paper to remove the smell. Put the milt in a bowl of water, add salt, and gently wash the milt in the water to remove the sliminess from the surface. Cut the milt into bite-size pieces with kitchen scissors. Boil water in a pot and run them through the water for 30 seconds at the most, then remove them from the water and let them cool before wiping off the water.

Both cod and tachi are winter delicacies commonly eaten in Hokkaido. Although the cold weather is still continuing, cod and tachi are recommended as ingredients for nabe dishes to warm you up! We have earthenware pots, yosenabe pots, tableware, and other items perfect for one-pot meals at our Otaru Showroom, so please stop by even though the weather is still cold.

Nakamura Douki's Yosenabe
https://www.shokunin.com/en/nakamuradouki/yosenabe.html
Ceramic Japan's do-nabe
https://www.shokunin.com/en/ceramicjapan/donabe.html
Otaru Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/otaru.html

Reference
https://www.gyoren.or.jp/hokkaidos_fish/tara/