Korean Shabu Shabu is a great “gathering” dish to make for close friends and family.
Place a large pot of broth in the middle of the table, then place out a tray of mixed veggies and meat.
And let your guests blanche they ingredients they want to eat.
It simple to prepare and more importantly, leaves you with less things to do & clean-up in the kitchen. You can better enjoy the dinner conversations and engage with your guests!
Unlike Japanese Shabu Shabu, Korean Style Shabu Shabu is spicy!
Typically, Japanese Shabu Shabu is made with Kombi Dashi – which is simply kombu (dashima) that is soaked in water.We’ll use the same kombu for this Korean broth. But we’ll also add-in dried anchovies for a fuller taste - you can also use 2 anchovy-kelp stock broth bags.
Then mix this stock broth with a blend of Korean gochugaru, gochujang, garlic, honey and doenjang.
The broth tastes spicy, savory and refreshing - makes any vegetable you soak in it taste great.
But Daniel, is it really spicy?
Well, everybody’s spice tolerance is different – but we give it a ⅗. If you can handle Korean Shin Ramen – you can eat this comfortably!
This shabu shabu recipe is inspired from a restaurant in Korea called Deungchon Shabu Shabu (등촌샤부샤부).
We used to visit this restaruants from time-to-time. I loved the simplicity of their Shabu Shabu and the combination of ingredients.
They like to include a Korean vegetable called Minari (미나리).
In English, it’s commonly known as water celery. It’s frequently used as an ingredient in Spicy Korean Seafood Stews (like Maeun-tang).
We highly recommend adding it to your hot pot. You’ll find it at large Korean markets.
But of course, if it’s hard to find, you can skip it. The shabu shabu will taste just fine without it!
Cooking Notes:
When you’re ready to cook - we recommend adding-in the sliced potatoes first. They take longer to cook.
After the potatoes, add in handful of your sliced mushrooms and onions. Let the three simmer away for a few minutes before you start shabu-shabu’ing.
This will ensure great flavor from the beginning!.
If you want to make a set menu (as shown in the video), remember to purchase some Kalguksu noodles. You can also use Udon Noodles.
As for the timing, we recommend cooking the noodles – halfway into your meal, when you still have a fair amount of broth in the pot.
Finish the meal with the mixed rice – we think it’s the best part!
For the rice, mix-it in at the end of your meal, when there is only a small layer of broth leftover (alternatively, you can scoop out the excess broth).
Remember to spread the rice across the bottom of the pot or wok and give it a minute to lose some moisture as it cooks. Finish by seasoning the rice with a few sprinkles of salt – it will taste bland without it!
This meal will have you feeling full - but not bloated. It’s a fun, healthy and savory dinner!
If you end up making it at home, tag us on IG. We love seeing picture of your successful meals!
-Daniel Out 🕺
Ingredients
Anchovy-Kelp Stock Broth
- 2L of Water (8.5 cups)
- 20 Dried Anchovies
- Hand-sized piece of Dashima (Kelp)
- 1 stalk Spring Onion
Spicy Marinade for Stock Broth
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons Gochugaru
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1.5 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
- 3 Tablespoons Gochujang
- 2 Tablespoons Doenjang
Dipping Sauce for Shabu Shabu
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar (Any type of vinegar ok)
- 6 Tablespoons Anchovy-Kelp Broth
- Small dab of Wasabi
Essential Ingredients for Shabu Shabu
- 500-800 grams of Thinly Sliced Beef
- 1 Potato
- ½ a Onion
- Small handful of Mushrooms
Additional, Optional Ingredients
- Small handful of Minari (Water Celery)
- Small handful of Baby Napa Cabbage
- Small handful of Fresh Tofu
- Small handful of Fishcake (Odeng)
- Small handful of Fresh Kalguksu Noodles
Mixed Rice
- 1 cup Rice
- Small handful of Chopped Green Onions
- 1 Egg
Instructions
Make Anchovy-Kelp Broth
- Pour in 2L (8.5 cups) of water into a large pot. Carefully clean-out 20 Large Dried Anchovies - by splitting them with your fingers and removing the black innards. Add the 20 cleaned anchovies into the pot. Then add a hand-sized piece of Dashima into the pot as well. Next, add a stalk of Spring Onion. (Alternatively, you can simply use 2 anchovy-kelp broth bags). Place on high heat and bring up to boil.
- Once it starts to boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Take out the anchovy, kelp pieces and the spring onion stalk - throw them out. Then use a soup ladle to skim-off any residual bubbles that float on top of the broth.
- Then scoop out 3 soup ladles of the broth into a small bowl. Set this small amount of broth aside for now - we'll use it in later steps when making the dipping sauce.
- Transfer the stock broth into a pot you will use for hot pot. If your pot can't fit all of the broth - no worries! Just fit as much as you can - you can add more broth later.
Make Spicy Marinade for Broth
- Take out a bowl and mix: Gochugaru (4 Tablespoons), Sugar (1 Tablespoon), Soy Sauce (2 Tablespoons), Honey (1 Tablespoon), Gochujang (3 Tablespoons), Doenjang (2 Tablespoons), Minced Garlic (1.5 Tablespoons). Give it a nice thorough mix.
Make Dipping Sauce
- Mix together Soy Sauce (2 Tablespoons), Vinegar (1 Tablespoon), and Anchovy-Kelp Broth (6 Tablespoons). Pour the sauce into individual dipping plates - this should make sauce for 2 individual plates. If you need more, simply double up on the ratio. To each plate, finishing by add a dab of wasabi on the side.
Prep the Ingredients
- Cut Onion into thin slices. Dice Potato into thin pieces. Wash and cut the stem portion off the Oyster Mushrooms. Then thoroughly wash the Minari and trim-off the ends. Then cut the minari into finger length pieces. Continue to wash, prep and trim all of the other vegetables you plan to use in the hot pot.
Prep Kalguksu Noodles
- Fill a small bowl with cold water. Gently soak the fresh Kalguksu Noodles. This process will remove the extra flour on the noodles. Then carefully place the soaked noodles on a plate.
Prep Mixed Rice
- Place 1 cup of cooked rice into a small bowl. Gently spread it across the bowl, so the rice can cool down a bit. Add-on a handful of chopped green onions. Then place this bowl of rice in the refrigerator for now - we'll come back to it at the end of the meal
Cook Shabu Shabu
- Place your hot-pot (that's filled with broth) onto a gas burner or electric plate and place it on a high heat. Then add in ½ of the Spicy Marinade - you can add more if you want later. Gently mix the paste into the hot water, until it dissolves.
- Next, add in the sliced potatoes. These take time to cook - so best to add them early. Once the pot starts boiling, add in the sliced onions and mushroom. Then add in the minari. Let it all cook and simmer away for 1-2 minutes.
- Now, you can hot-pot. Simply pick-out any of the ingredients you like and blanche it in the hot-pot for 20-30 seconds. Once the ingredient is cooked, take it out the pot and dip it in your personal dipping sauce.
Add Kalguksu Noodles
- While you eat, keep your eye on the broth level in the pot. Once the broth has reduced by half, add in the Kalguksu noodles. Carefully add in the soaked noodles and let it cook for 5-6 minutes.
- If you're running low on broth, feel free to add-in more of the leftover anchovy-kelp broth, along with another scoop of the Spicy Marinade.
Finish with Mixed Rice.
- Towards the end of your meal - it's time for the mixed rice! Place the hot-pot back on a medium-high heat. Scoop-out the excess broth, so that you're left with only a small amount of broth.
- Then take-out the bowl you left in the refrigerator. Crack 1 egg into it. Then carefully dump all of it into the pot. Use a soup ladle to carefully mix the rice in. Mix it thoroughly and then spread the rice across the bottom of the pot. Let it cook for 1 minute. Then season with a few sprinkles of salt.
- Scrape the rice off the bottom and serve in a bowl or eat it directly out of the hot pot! Bon Appetit ya'll!
Enjoying these recipes? Drop some love 🙃
Bill Zigrang says
?How does Korean shabu-shabu differ from da-bin-lo? (Or is it just the vessel used?)
Anne says
Delicious! Made for family of 4 and it was plenty!
Jin says
This is SO delicious!
Even without meat this is just great, well done and thank you for sharing.
Alison says
Amazing dish. Thank you for sharing. My family lives the dish
Alison says
Sorry Loved the dish..