Shabu Shabu with Sesame Dipping Sauce (Japan)

Ingredients

• 8 cups beef or chicken stock
• 1 3/4 cups finely chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 pound highly marbled beef sirloin, thinly sliced
• 1 small white Chinese cabbage, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean and stems trimmed
• 12 thin asparagus spears, tough ends removed
• Steamed white rice
• Sesame Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Around the table, set each place with 1 small bowl and 1 pair of chopsticks.

In a large pot, combine the stock, green onions, ginger, and garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Arrange the beef and vegetables on a large platter. Cover and chill until ready to cook.

At serving time, pour stock into a shabu-shabu cooker, close lid, and fill chimney with glowing coals. (Alternately, use a table-top cooker or electric frying pan.) Place in the center of the table within easy reach of everyone. Keep the stock simmering throughout the meal, adding more as necessary.

To serve, remove the lid on the shabu-shabu cooker. In turn, each guest picks up ingredients with a pair of chopsticks and holds in the boiling stock until just done. The cooked ingredients then are dipped in the individual's sauce bowl and eaten with rice.

Note: Care should be taken not to overcook meat and vegetables. Steak should be pale pink when cooked and vegetables tender but still crisp.

When all the meat and vegetables are eaten the stock is ladled into the individual bowls and served as soup. The bowls should be lifted to the lips, Japanese fashion, rather than using a spoon.

Sesame Dipping Sauce :

• 3 tablespoons sesame paste
• 1/2 cup shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Put the sesame paste into a bowl and slowly stir in the shoyu, mirin and red pepper flakes.