Our Christmas Day centered around the contents of that box. I gave Naoto a donabe, Japanese hot pot, for Christmas, sending him over the moon with excitement. Donabe are used for table top cooking of Japanese meals, particularly shabu-shabu. We’ve been talking about buying our own donabe and making shabu-shabu at home forever. We casually looked at them while we were in Japan, but it just isn’t practical to carry around a big, breakable pot when you are traveling by train and subway. So, I did what any American would do…I bought one on Amazon. This one, as a matter of fact. It is made in Japan, Naoto’s favorite color and available on Prime. (I was shopping somewhat last-minute. Also, not an affiliate link.) 
We made our annual visit to Mitsuwa on Christmas afternoon to pick up the table top burner and ingredients for shabu-shabu. We bought (clockwise, pictured above) cabbage, scallion, tofu, shirataki (yam noodle), enoki mushroom, and carrots. The carrots were supposed to be cut like flowers, but Naoto is still working on his skills. (But I do find that those little carrot pinwheels very charming!) And we bought a pound of the very thinly sliced beef. 
On Christmas night, we made a cocktail, lit some candles, and fired up the little stove. Naoto seasoned the water with some seaweed. 
When the water was bubbling, he took out the seaweed and we were ready to cook! It only took a couple of swishes and the beef was cooked to perfection. 
And the best part…the ponzu dipping sauce! The citrusy sauce is the perfect complement to the beef! I want to put it on evvvvverything!
We borrowed Japanese Hot Pots and Donabe from the library so we can learn how to expand our donabe cooking beyond shabu-shabu. And tomorrow night, we are hosting a mini shabu-shabu party for Naoto’s birthday. I’m excited to try a few recipes at the dining room table this winter!
so much happiness