When you think of hot pot dishes, the first thing that comes to mind may be classics such as shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. However, changing your perspective and thinking about the flavor and flow that can be completed in just one pot is a creative process. At the same time, it is an attractive dish that allows you to fully enjoy the flavors of seasonal ingredients.

Ai Hosokawa creates one masterpiece after another through her travels around the world and through her dialogue with everyday ingredients. The soup, the ingredients, the aroma, the texture. She pays close attention to various elements and says that the process of completing a single pot is a lot of fun.

"My family agrees that it's okay to eat hot pot every day. This may be because you can enjoy the texture of freshly cooked ingredients that you can't find in other dishes, and the real thrill of having each person perfect the dish."

``Aka-nabe'' whose passionate red color stimulates your appetite

Therefore, we decided to introduce four seasonal hotpots starting this summer. Please try this new flavor that overturns the stereotypes of so-called hot pot dishes.

In summer, it's ``red hot pot'' made with tomatoes. The soup is a kelp and sardine soup that Hosokawa often uses for hot pot dishes. And the key this time is to use frozen tomatoes. Freezing tomatoes breaks down their fibers, and when they are simmered, they become thicker and have a more concentrated flavor. Add cherry tomatoes and red ingredients to enjoy the texture of tomatoes.

Chicken dango is usually made with flour or eggs as a binder, but I purposely used only salt koji. This is because it's easier, the soup in the pot doesn't get cloudy, and you can enjoy the meaty flavor.

Hosokawa says that the ingredients you put in the pot don't have to be exactly like the recipe. Hotpot is a dish full of creativity, so I want you to arrange it yourself while consulting with your refrigerator that day.

red hot pot

1 liter of konbu and sardine soup stock
2 tablespoons sake
4 dried plums
4 medium frozen tomatoes
2 red bell peppers
2 red sweet chili peppers
10 cherry tomatoes
Minced chicken 200g
2 teaspoons salt koji
2 tablespoons fermented ginger
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Other
Leafy things
(Sunny lettuce, perilla leaves, coriander, basil, etc.)

Roast the red bell peppers and ripe sweet chili peppers in a high-temperature oven until golden brown. Once cooled, remove the skin, stems, and seeds.
Blanch cherry tomatoes.
Wash the frozen tomatoes, peel them, and chop them thinly.
In a pot that can be placed on the table, add the konbu and sardine stock, sake, dried umeboshi, frozen tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red paprika, red sweet chili peppers and their grilled juice and bring to a simmer.
Add salt koji to the minced chicken and mix well.
Once the soup has boiled, drop the meat chunks into it with a spoon and bring it to a boil again to bring out the saltiness.
Place fermented ginger in the center along with the juice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
While warming on the table, pour the soup into separate bowls.
Boil and eat the leaves if you like.

*Dried umeboshi is made by spreading umeboshi in a colander and drying them until they become crispy. The pulp will no longer be juicy, but it will be sweeter and less salty.
*Fermented ginger is made by soaking shredded new ginger in 3% salt water and fermenting it until it becomes cloudy. Taste the soup and if it tastes sour, refrigerate. If not, just use fresh shredded pieces.

Ai Hosokawa

Cook. He hosts cooking classes and cooking parties in taishoji, Kumamoto. Many books are currently on sale, including ``Toast'' (BON Publishing), ``Standard Cooking Book'' (Anonyma Studio), ``Travel and Cooking'' (CCC Media House), and ``Taishoji Cookbook 1.2'' (Shobunsha). His latest publication is the online magazine ``Apron and Recipe June Issue'' (grembiuli & ricette).

Photography by Ai Hosokawa