Yanagawa Nabe (Loach, Burdock, and Egg Hot Pot)

Quick answer

Total time: 40 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 10

About this dish

Yanagawa nabe is a shallow Tokyo hot pot of cleaned, boned loach and shaved burdock simmered in dashi seasoned with soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, then bound with beaten egg.

Unlike marunabe, which cooks whole loach, Yanagawa uses opened fish and gains a gentler finish from the egg. This version avoids handling live loach and begins with fish professionally gutted, boned, and kept refrigerated. The loach is cooked through in the simmering broth before the egg is poured in two stages.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
cleaned boneless loach	400	g
sake	50	ml
burdock root	200	g
eggs	4	piece
dashi	600	ml
soy sauce	50	ml
mirin	50	ml
sugar	12	g
Japanese long onion	80	g
ground sansho pepper	2	g

Instructions

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

6 steps

1

Prep

Keep 400g prepared loach at or below 4C until needed.

Pour over 50ml sake, rest for 5 minutes, drain, and pat dry with clean paper towels.
2

Prep

Scrape 200g burdock lightly, shave it into thin slivers, soak in cold water for 5 minutes, and drain.

Slice 80g long onion thinly on the diagonal.
3

Control

Bring 600ml dashi, 50ml soy sauce, 50ml mirin, and 12g sugar to a boil in a shallow hot-pot pan.

Spread in the burdock and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
4

Control

Lay the loach over the burdock without overlapping, cover, and simmer for 7 to 9 minutes.

Confirm that the fish is opaque through and flakes easily.
5

Control

Beat 4 eggs lightly, leaving some white and yolk distinction.

Pour in two thirds, cover for 1 minute, then add the rest and scatter the onion. Turn off the heat when the egg is mostly set.
6

Finish

Sprinkle with 2g sansho just before eating and serve broth, burdock, loach, and egg together.

For diners who require fully cooked egg, cover and cook 1 minute longer.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Professionally cleaned and boned loach
Finish cue: Confirm that the fish is opaque through and flakes easily.
Avoid this: Do not improvise live-loach processing at home; use professionally gutted, boned, refrigerated fish.