BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show - Shabu-Shabu

BITE ME! the MAN cooking show
Episode 205 - Shabu-Shabu

The Japanese dish shabu-shabu might possibly be the world's perfect date food. Why? Not only is it light, healthy and delicious, but you cook it together with your date right at the table. She'll think it's crazy romantic and the next thing you know your clothes will be all over the floor.

In this episode, Josh Landis shows you how to set up and serve this secret weapon right in your own dining room. Here are the written recipe instructions.


Shabu-Shabu

1 pound shabu-shabu beef (Find it in the meat section of your local Asian market or have your butcher slice ribeye or top sirloin paper thin)
1 small head of napa cabbage
4 green onions
1 package of enoki mushrooms
1 bunch of chrysanthemum leaves (optional)
1 package firm or medium firm tofu
1 package udon noodles
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (optional)
1 bottle of pon shabu sauce (ponzu dipping sauce)
1 bottle of goma shabu sauce (sesame dipping sauce)
2 cups of white rice (preferably calrose)

Place portable burner in the middle of your table, or where you and your date can both reach it, and start a pot of water boiling. If you don't have a portable electric burner you can use your stove, but the whole cooking-together-date thing works way better with a portable burner at the table. You can get one for about $20 at your local discount store. Cook the rice. (For rice cooking instructions, see BITE ME! the MAN Cooking Show, episode 102.)

Peel off some napa cabbage leaves and cut them into 3-4 pieces each. You want each piece to be a little larger than bite-sized. Cut off the end of each green onion, then cut each one into finger-sized pieces. Cut off the dirty ends of the enoki mushrooms. Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes. Place all of your vegetables, plus the tofu and udon noodles, on a plate or plates next to your pot of boiling water. Pour the two shabu-shabu dipping sauces into small bowls for each of you. Finely chopped garlic goes great with the ponzu sauce, but if you're cooking for a date you might want to pass on it.  Once the rice is prepared, fill a bowl with rice for each of you.

To cook and serve, place pieces of vegetables and beef into the boiling water. Cook each bite as you go. The beef only takes about 15 seconds, while the vegetables, noodles and tofu take a few seconds longer. Once cooked, dip the pieces in either of your dipping sauces and eat with rice.