A steamy and savoury bowl of hotpot can be very restoring after a long and exhausting day outside. Plop in some beef short-ribs for the heat to work its magic, resulting in succulent and fall-off-the-bone meat that only adds on to the robust tastes of chicken stock, pumpkin, miso and more.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 2.5 kg beef short ribs, excess fat trimmed, cut into sections
- 10 green onions (scallions), sliced thinly
- 2 litres (8 cups) chicken stock
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) soy sauce
- ½ cup (125 ml) mirin
- 2 tbsps red miso
- 6 cm piece fresh ginger, cut into matchsticks
- 1 kg Kent pumpkin, skin on, cut into 3 cm thick wedges
- 1 tbsps rice wine vinegar
- 2 packets 270 g dried soba noodles
Steps
Heat oil in a 6.75 litre (27 cups) cast iron or other flameproof casserole dish over high heat. Cook beef, in batches, turning, for 15 mins or until well browned; transfer each batch to a large heatproof bowl. Discard excess oil; return all beef to dish.
Add half the green onion to dish with the stock, soy sauce, mirin, miso and ginger; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, covered, for 1¼ hrs, skimming surface occasionally to discard excess fat.
Add pumpkin; cook, covered, for a further 15 mins or until pumpkin is just tender. Stir in vinegar.
Just before serving, cook soba noodles following packet directions; drain.
Serve beef hotpot with the soba noodles, topped with remaining green onion.
TIP We used a 28 cm Round cast iron casserole dish. Serve with steamed rice instead of the soba noodles. Sprinkle hotpot with sesame seeds and thinly sliced nori (seaweed) sheets, if you like. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Freeze up to end of step 3, for up to 3 months; thaw in the fridge, then reheat in a microwave. Continue with steps 4 and 5 as per the recipe.
Photo: bauersyndication.com.au