The intense summer heat has come to an end, and we can suddenly feel the signs of autumn.

Even at the market that Ai Hosokawa always goes to, vegetables and fruits are becoming more abundant with each passing day. Among them, root vegetables such as potatoes, which are the taste of autumn, ginger and new ginger, and young leafy vegetables are particularly eye-catching.

The other day, Hosokawa went to the market and saw a lot of leafy vegetables from his favorite producers lined up, so he couldn't stand still and picked up some. Mibu greens, komatsuna, arugula, shandong greens, red mizuna...all of them were still small and soft, but when I bit into them, I was surprised at how rich their flavors were.

The autumn hotpot we will be introducing this time is ``Lotus Hot Pot,'' which is a hot pot of leafy vegetables wrapped in pork and served with grated lotus root.
When pork is wrapped in leafy vegetables and simmered over low heat, the inside of the meat is not exposed to direct heat, making it very tender. The thickening of the lotus root in the soup keeps it piping hot, and each time you add pork or vegetables, the flavor of the ingredients is concentrated in the soup, and the flavor of the dashi and ginger is added, making the soup even more delicious.

Salt koji and vinegar koji are used for the soup and sauce. Salt koji adds a gentle sweetness and flavor, and vinegar koji, which is made by fermenting vinegar and koji, accentuates the flavor. Chopping ginger and radish, which are also in season, and adding plum vinegar to the dish adds a refreshing flavor to the richly flavored hotpot, creating a gentle flavor with a different expression.

Hosokawa says. ``The main character of this hot pot is vegetables.The most important thing in making a delicious hot pot is that the vegetables are delicious.If you can't find good leafy vegetables, try using daikon radish, mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, etc. I think it would be a good idea to choose vegetables that bring out the flavor easily.”
This is a hot pot with a flavor that will leave you feeling the gentle taste of autumn.

Lotus root hotpot (for 4 people)

juice
1 medium lotus root
1 liter of konbu and sardine soup stock
1/2 cup sake
Salt koji (appropriate amount)
Moderate amount of ginger

Ingredient
Soft leafy vegetables (mibu greens, komatsuna, arugula, shandong greens, red mizuna)
Pork shabu-shabu meat (your favorite part)

Sauce①
radish
Myuga
Plum vinegar

Sauce②
red miso
Ground sesame
Sesame Oil

Sauce③
Vinegar koji (mix vinegar and koji at a ratio of 4:1 and ferment it in the same way as making salt koji)
Sesame Oil

Prepare the soup.
Put the konbu, sardine and sake stock into a tabletop pot, and add an appropriate amount of shio koji to bring out the saltiness to the level of a slightly diluted soup.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, bring to the table and grate the ginger.

Prepare the ingredients.
For leafy vegetables, remove the hard, large leaves and use them for another dish, then wrap the soft inside with pork shabu-shabu meat so that the tips of the leaves are visible. (If the leaf vegetables are long, fold them appropriately to make them easy to roll and eat.)

Make the sauce.
For ①, cut the radish and myoga into small pieces and sprinkle with plum vinegar.
For ② and ③, put appropriate amounts of each seasoning into a bowl and mix together.

Heat a pot at the dining table.
Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer the pork over a gentle heat.
Once they are soft and boiled, put them in separate bowls with the soup and top with your favorite sauce.
We recommend eating the combination of ① and ② first, and then add ③ and mix once you have eaten all of it.
③It's delicious when you put rice in miso-flavored soup and eat it.

At the end, if there is any liquid left in the pot, add the rice and boil it until cooked.

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 Collection'' (Anonyma Studio), ``Travel and Cooking'' (CCC Media House), and ``Taishoji Cookbook 1.2'' (Shobunsha). His online magazine ``Apron and Recipe'' (grembiuli & ricette) is updated every month.

Photography by Ai Hosokawa