Soba Dojo Buckwheat Dough Hotpot

Quick answer

Total time: 55 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 16

About this dish

Soba dojo nabe is a winter hotpot from Kagamino in Okayama.

Buckwheat flour is kneaded with egg and boiling water, then pinched off and rolled into long, thin pieces shaped like loaches before cooking in dashi with vegetables. Despite the name and shape, the dish contains no loach. Burdock, carrot, napa cabbage, pumpkin, shiitake, fried tofu, and chikuwa simmer together, and soy sauce, mirin, and sake season the broth once the dough is cooked. Passed down in a mountain area as warming cold-weather food, it serves the tender buckwheat pieces and vegetables together in their savory broth.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
buckwheat flour	150	g
small egg	1	piece
boiling water	30	ml
dashi	500	ml
burdock root	50	g
fried tofu pouch	0.5	sheet
carrot	50	g
napa cabbage	50	g
kabocha squash	50	g
chikuwa fish cake	30	g
fresh shiitake mushrooms	3	piece
leafy greens	50	g
green onions	5	stalk
soy sauce	3	tbsp
mirin	1	tbsp
sake	1	tbsp

Instructions

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

6 steps

1

Finish

Blanch 50g leafy greens in boiling water for 1 minute, cool in cold water, and cut into 2 to 3cm lengths.

Cut 5 green onion stalks into 3cm pieces and reserve both ingredients for the finish.
2

Prep

Shave 50g burdock into thin diagonal pieces.

Pour hot water over 0.5 sheet fried tofu pouch to remove surface oil, then cut into strips. Shred 50g carrot and 50g napa cabbage, slice 50g kabocha 7mm thick, cut 30g chikuwa into rounds, and thinly slice 3 fresh shiitake mushrooms.
3

Heat

Beat 1 small egg and add it to 150g buckwheat flour.

Add 30ml boiling water gradually and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is as soft as an earlobe, holds together, and does not cling heavily to the hands.
4

Control

Pour 500ml dashi into a pot and add the burdock, fried tofu pouch, carrot, napa cabbage, kabocha, chikuwa, and shiitake.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, lower to medium-low, and simmer for 7 minutes.
5

Control

Pinch off thumbnail-size portions of buckwheat dough and roll between the palms into thin 5cm loach shapes.

Add them to the simmering pot as they are formed and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until a split piece has no dry flour at its center.
6

Control

Stir in 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon mirin, and 1 tablespoon sake and simmer for 2 more minutes.

Add the blanched leafy greens and green onions, wilt for 1 minute, then divide the buckwheat pieces, vegetables, and broth among bowls.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Buckwheat dough rolled into long, thin loach shapes
Finish cue: Add 30ml boiling water gradually and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is as soft as an earlobe, holds together, and does not cling heavily to the hands.