Mille Feuille Nabe
Mille feuille nabe, or thousand-layer hot pot, is a Japanese hot pot made of "a thousand-layers" of napa cabbage and thinly sliced pork. It's a super easy dish to make that requires only a few ingredients, which is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or a hot pot party, especial during the cold weather. Afterwards add some instant ramen, udon noodles, or even white rice to the leftover broth for a tasty shime (aka post meal snack).
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 5-6 leaves napa cabbage (cleaned and rinsed)
- 8 ounces thinly sliced pork belly (or thinly sliced pork shoulder)
- 2 cups dashi broth (*see notes)
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 slices ginger
- Shimeji mushrooms (bottom roots removed)
- Enoki mushrooms (bottom roots removed)
- Shiitake mushrooms (stem trimmed)
- Carrot (peeled and cut into slices)
- Noodles (udon, ramen, or any noodles of your choice)
- Ponzu
- Soy sauce
- Shichimi togarashi
- Chinese chili oil
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the ingredients.
- 2
Make the soup base:Mix together the dashi, soy sauce, and salt. Set aside until needed.
- 3
Assemble the napa cabbage and pork:Trim off the ends of each napa cabbage leaf and layer each leaf with the thinly sliced pork belly. Try your best to cover the entire leaf. Repeat with all of the leaves except for one.
- 4
Stack the pork belly layered napa cabbage leaves on top of each other and finish by placing the extra napa cabbage leaf that's not layered with pork on top of the stack. Then, cut the stack into 2 inch pieces.
- 5
Packing the layered pork belly napa cabbage into a 5 inch donabe (clay pot) or a 3 quart saucepan. Start from the edge of the pot and work your way to the center. Try to keep everything tightly packed and keep the cut side of the cabbage up for the best aesthetics.*See notes for multiplied/larger serving recipes!*
- 6
After packing in all the layered napa cabbage and have a little room, stuff a bundle of shimeji and/or enoki mushrooms in the center. Also, stuff the ginger slices in between the napa cabbage leaves. Lastly, place a shiitake mushroom and/or some carrot slices on top if you want.
- 7
Pour the seasoned dashi stock over the assembled cabbage and pork when ready to cook and cover with lid.
- 8
Cook and serve:
- 9
Place the pot of prepared mille feuille nabe over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and skim off any scum (optional). Allow the hot pot to cook for another 5 minutes or until the veggies and pork are cooked through.
- 10
While the hot pot is cooking, prepare the serving dish/bowl and sauce.
- 11
Once the hot pot is ready, bring it to the table and serve immediately. It'll be very hot, so be careful!*You can also cook the mille fueille nabe at the table on a butane burner, like you would regular hot pot.*
- 12
Post hot pot meal (shime):
- 13
If there's broth leftover after finishing the mille feuille nabe, you can enjoy the now umami packed broth by simply adding some white rice or cook some udon noodles or even instant ramen in the broth. It's super flavorful!