Botan Nabe Wild Boar Hotpot

Quick answer

Total time: 65 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 18

About this dish

Botan nabe is a hotpot from Tanba Sasayama City in Hyogo.

Thinly sliced wild boar loin, grilled tofu, napa cabbage, burdock, taro, konnyaku, mushrooms, and other vegetables simmer in dashi seasoned with equal amounts of red and white miso. One account traces it to around 1908, when troops stationed in the area put boar caught during training into miso soup or brought the meat to local inns for a miso hotpot. Inns later arranged the slices like peony petals, linking the presentation to the name botan. It is served mainly in winter, at New Year, and for guests, with ground sansho added at the table.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
thinly sliced wild boar loin	300	g
grilled tofu	250	g
napa cabbage	150	g
long green onions	2	stalk
chrysanthemum greens	100	g
enoki mushrooms	100	g
burdock root	100	g
carrot	80	g
block konnyaku	1	sheet
taro	300	g
water for soaking vegetables	1000	ml
vinegar	1	tbsp
dashi	500	ml
sake	100	ml
mirin	3	tbsp
red miso	3	tbsp
white miso	3	tbsp
ground sansho	0.5	tsp

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

5 steps

1

Heat

Cut 250g grilled tofu into bite-size pieces, 150g napa cabbage into 4cm widths, 2 long green onions diagonally, and 100g chrysanthemum greens into 5cm lengths. Trim 100g enoki and divide into small clusters, then julienne 80g carrot.
2

Prep

Shave 100g burdock thinly and soak in 500ml of the vegetable water for 5 minutes.

Peel 300g taro, cut into bite-size pieces, and soak for 5 minutes in the remaining 500ml water mixed with 1 tablespoon vinegar, then rinse. Tear 1 sheet block konnyaku into bite-size pieces.
3

Control

Combine 500ml dashi, 100ml sake, and 3 tablespoons mirin in a hotpot.

Dissolve 3 tablespoons red miso and 3 tablespoons white miso in one ladle of the liquid, return it to the pot, and bring to a boil over high heat.
4

Control

When the broth boils, add 300g thinly sliced wild boar loin one slice at a time.

Once the red color disappears from the surface, add the burdock, taro, konnyaku, and carrot and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Continue when a chopstick enters the taro halfway.
5

Heat

Add the grilled tofu, napa cabbage, green onions, and enoki and cook for 6 more minutes.

When the taro is tender through the center and no red remains inside the boar, add the chrysanthemum greens and wilt for 1 minute. Divide among bowls and sprinkle the 0.5 teaspoon ground sansho at the table.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Broth seasoned with equal red and white miso
Finish cue: When the taro is tender through the center and no red remains inside the boar, add the chrysanthemum greens and wilt for 1 minute.
Avoid this: Dissolve both misos in a ladle of broth before adding them so no lumps stick to the bottom and the seasoning disperses evenly.