Previously, we made Tantanmen also known as Dandan noodles, and today we are making Tantan Nabe, a hot pot version of tantanmen, in which you can enjoy plenty of vegetables. You can also finish off the delicious Tantan Nabe along with the soup. This is an excellent dish especially in the cold season.
First, let's make the tantan soup. Heat the sesame oil in a pan.
Add the ground pork.
Crumble the meat into small pieces and brown the surface without stirring at first. This will help keep the juices and cook the meat quickly.
Then, thoroughly stir-fry the meat to remove any unwanted smells.
When the ground meat is cooked and the oil begins to turn clear, add the chopped garlic and ginger root.
Stir-fry for about 1 minute until the aroma grows stronger.
Now, make a space at the center of the pan and add 1 teaspoon of doubanjiang, Chinese chili bean paste. Lightly stir-fry the doubanjiang and bring out the spicy flavor.
Then, distribute the doubanjiang and toss to coat evenly.
Dissolve the Chinese-style granulated chicken stock powder in the water as instructed on the package and add it to the meat mixture.
Add the miso, white sesame paste, soy sauce, sake and sugar.
Dissolve the condiments using a balloon whisk. When the tantan soup is ready, turn off the burner.
Let's prepare the ingredients. Cut off the 5 to 6 cm (2"~2.4") stalks from the head of bok choy.
Cut the stalks lengthwise into 6 pieces.
Drop the pieces into a bowl of water and thoroughly rinse between the stalks. You should rinse them with running water at home.
As for the leafy part, cut it into 5 cm (2") pieces.
This is Atsuage, a type of thick deep-fried tofu. Cut it into 1.5 cm (0.6") bite-size pieces.
Cut the pork belly slices into 4 to 5 cm (1.6"~2") pieces.
Cut the white part of long green onion into 1 cm (0.4") thick pieces using diagonal cuts. Cut the shiitake mushrooms into relatively thick slices and tear the shimeji and maitake mushrooms into smaller pieces.
Arrange the ingredients in a thick heavy pot with the center slightly lower as shown.
Place the pork belly slices along the edge of the pot.
Pour the tantan soup over the ingredients and place the ground meat in the center.
If you add the soup first, the ingredients will float and it will be difficult to arrange them in the pot.
Place the pot on the burner, cover with a lid and turn on the heat.
Arrange all the ingredients in the pot before cooking to present this delicious dish for you and your family to enjoy together.
When it begins to boil, submerge the ingredients in the broth to cook them quickly.
Remove the foam with a mesh strainer.
When the meat is cooked and the vegetables are softened, add the garlic chives cut into 4 cm pieces and submerge them in the broth.
Finally, add the ground white sesame seeds. Now it is ready.
Ladle the ingredients into a bowl and enjoy the tantan nabe! This is spicy, rich and very delicious!
And there is one more thing! Let's make Tantanmen, dandan noodles with the remaining broth.
Add soy milk according to the amount of remaining broth.
Add the firmly cooked ramen to avoid overcooking. Mmmm. Looks delicious!
When the noodles are warmed up, add the garlic chives.
Now, place the ramen into a bowl along with the ingredients.
Ladle the soup over the noodles. Adding soy milk makes the broth smooth and allows you to enjoy a slightly different taste. You won't get tired of the same flavor so you can savor the last drop of soup.
Finally, drizzle on the Sichuan chili oil also known as rayu.
Recipe Notes
We are using a ceramic pot called Donabe but you can use any pan or pot.
You should adjust the appropriate amount of soy milk according to the amount of remaining broth. For reference, we added about 50 ml of soy milk in the video.