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Delicious Japanese Soy Milk Hot Pot recipe with napa cabbage, mushrooms, and thinly sliced pork cooked in a creamy and savory soy milk broth.
Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki are both very popular and well known Japanese hot pot dishes outside of Japan. However, there are many other kinds of hot pot dishes that we also enjoy in Japan including Kimchi Nabe. Today I’d like to introduce Soy Milk Hot Pot, or as we call it Tonyu Nabe (豆乳鍋).
What is Soy Milk Hot Pot (Tonyu Nabe)
As the name of the recipe suggests, one of the key ingredients for this hot pot is soy milk, which is used as the main flavoring to the base of dashi broth. Vegetables such as napa cabbage, leafy green vegetables, and thinly sliced pork are then added to cook in the hot pot and dipped in the ponzu sauce to enjoy. Meant to be a shared dish where friends and family gather together at the table to enjoy the dish, you can find soy milk hot pot being served at tofu restaurants or ryokan (Japanese inns).
The broth has a really delicate flavor. Due to the soy milk in the broth, the taste is naturally sweet and creamy. When all the vegetables and meats are submerged in the broth, everything comes together resulting in a well rounded, savory hot pot. On the side, a tangy Ponzu sauce is served for you to dip the cooked vegetables and meats for additional sweet, salty, and citrusy kick to the entire experience.
3 Big Flavors: Soy Milk, Miso, and Sesame Seeds
If you have tried my Vegetarian Ramen recipe, you’re probably familiar with the golden combination of these 3 big flavors.
Whenever soy milk is called for in many Japanese recipes, you will often find miso being used alongside. Like peanut butter and jelly, you gotta have one with the other. Soy milk is mild, sweet, and more neutral in flavor, while miso is rich, salty and bold, which makes the duo the perfect pair in creating an umami-packed broth. Sesame seeds are optional, but I definitely prefer to add them as they add a toasty nutty aroma to the dish.
How To Prevent Soy Milk from Curdling
If I had to add one “challenging” part about this hot pot recipe, it is soy milk curdling. If you are like me who gets obsessive about skimming off the surface of broth until it’s nice and clean, this will probably bother you. You might end up skimming more than enjoying the hot pot.
Boiling or simmering can cause the soy milk to curdle. You can reduce curdles by cooking on a lower heat (without boiling), but it can’t be avoided from happening completely. Once you top the hot pot with vegetables and meat, the curdles will not be as visible after all. At least that’s what I tell myself from not being distracted by the curdles.
Hot Pot = Perfect Dinner for Busy Day
In case you’ve never made a hot pot at home, I can’t stress enough that there just aren’t many EASY & QUICK family meals than a hot pot. Here are quick 3 reasons why:
- Only one prep, which is cutting vegetables.
- Eat while you cook. The way we enjoy hot pot is to sit around the hot pot (with a portable gas burner on the table). While each of your family members talks about their day, the meal is being cooked. When you’re enjoying hot food, the next batch of food is being cooked.
- The nutritious meal with all different (colors of) vegetables and protein in one meal.
To minimize your work for a family weeknight meal, you can prepare a big batch of vegetables in advance on the weekend. I often serve the soy milk hot pot with donabe, the traditional Japanese earthenware pot, but you can serve it with a different pot like Asian style steamboat or a large size clay pot.
Soulful, wholesome and heart-warming, this soy milk hot pot is especially terrific when there’s a chill in the air. It also makes a cozy, fun dish to serve when you have a few guests over.
Other Hot Pot Recipes and the Donabe Care
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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- 0.8 lb thinly sliced pork loin (400 g) (Skip for vegetarian)
- 1 package enoki mushrooms
- 1 package shimeji mushrooms
- 4 shiitake mushrooms
- ¼ napa cabbage
- ½ bunch mizuna (Japanese mustard green) (or spinach)
- 1 shungiku (Tong Ho/Garland Chrysanthemum) (edible chrysanthemums, in Chinese tong hao, or skip)
- 1 negi (long green onion) (or leek)
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 1 medium-firm tofu
- ½ daikon radish
- 1 carrot
- 1 gobo (burdock root)
- 3 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock; click to learn more) (720 ml) (I use Awase dashi. Kombu dashi for vegetarian/vegan)
- ¼ cup sake (60 ml)
- ¼ cup mirin (60 ml)
- 2 cups unsweetened soy milk (480 ml) (microwave till it’s warm)
- ¼ cup miso (4 Tbsp) (I use awase miso)
- 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Hot Pot Soup: First we start making the soup and infuse with all the seasonings. In your donabe (earthenware pot) or other type of pot, add 3 cups (720 ml) dashi, ¼ cup (60 ml) sake and ¼ cup (60 ml) mirin. Cover and bring the soup to boil.
- Once boiling, add 2 cups (480 ml) warm soy milk. On medium heat, slowly heat up until the soup almost boils. Keep the lid uncovered and stir once in a while. Meanwhile, grind 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds in a pestle and mortar.
- Once the soup is hot, add ¼ cup (4 Tbsp.) miso and ground sesame seeds.
- Taste the soup and add kosher salt if you like it saltier. Depends on the brands and types of miso, the saltiness of your soup will vary. I recommend making the soup a little bit saltier since you’ll add vegetables that will release water and dilute the soup. Turn off the heat and set aside. Keep it covered.
- Hot Pot Ingredients: If your meat is not thinly sliced, you have to cut it thinly on your own. See how to do it here (picture is thinly sliced beef).
- Cut off and discard the bottom of enoki mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms.
- Cut off and discard the shiitake stem. If you like, make decorative cut on shiitake mushrooms (See how to do it here).
- Cut napa cabbage into 2” (5 cm) pieces widthwise. Then cut into 2-3 pieces lengthwise on the thick and white bottom part of napa cabbage so that it’ll be faster to cook.
- Cut Mizuna (or spinach) and shungiku into 2” (5 cm) pieces.
- Cut Tokyo negi (leek) into 1” (2.5 cm) thick pieces diagonally. Thinly slice green onion/scallion.
- Cut the tofu block into 1” (2.5 cm) slices.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel the daikon and carrot thinly as if you are peeling their skin. You can cut these root vegetables into thinly rounds or quarters, but my family loves eating root vegetables in long paper-thin form.
- Peel the gobo (burdock root) same way as daikon and carrot. Soak the thinly sliced gobo in water for 15 minutes to prevent them from changing color.
- Put all the vegetables, mushrooms, and tofu in a platter.
- Start cooking bottom white part of napa cabbage leaves, Tokyo negi, tofu, mushrooms, and root vegetables (daikon, carrot, gobo) over medium heat. Basically you don’t want to put leafy vegetables that will become wilted too soon before other vegetables become tender. Don't put too many ingredients. You can save them for the next batch. Once the hot pot soup is close to boiling, turn down so that the hot pot soup will not overflow and curdle. You want to keep it hot, but not boil. You can either start serving food that’s cooked, or add raw meat and leafy vegetable to cook. Make sure to add meat when the soup is hot. Skim any curdles floating on the soup. You can eat the curdle or discard. Pour ponzu sauce in a small bowl and add chopped green onion/scallion. Dip cooked meat and vegetables in ponzu sauce to enjoy! Add more ingredients to the pot as you eat.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 156, 2016. The content has been slightly updated.
This recipe looks so delicious and so vegan! Thanks! Concerning soy milk curdles, would it be an idea to mix a little bit of starch (taro, tapioca maybe) before pouring milk in the hot pot, in order to avoid curdling? I use this method if I have yoghurt in heated/cooked dishes, I just thought it can be same with soy milk.
Hi Genus! I’m never heard about starch, but I know baking soda can help a bit. Even though it’s added, you can’t avoid curdling completely, so I don’t usually put it. Thanks for sharing the tip on starch!
How can I make this low-sodium. Miso tends to be very high in sodium.
Hi Greg! You can reduce the amount of miso (it’s additional umami flavor to this hot pot) and salt. Saltiness of miso varies depends on the miso, so you can try purchasing miso that’s low in sodium. Hope this helps!
This looks delicious! Could you also share which type/brand of soy milk that you use? Thanks for a great recipe. Looking forward to trying it 🙂
Hi Carissa! I use this brand of soy sauce (imported from Japan). You may not be able to find it locally.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/soy-sauce/
It’s organic and I like the taste of it. This bottle is about $6 I think.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Thanks Nami! I’m actually here in the Bay Area too so I think I can find it. I was actually wondering though which soy “milk” you use in the recipe. There are so many types now days. Any help greatly appreciated! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks again!
Hi Carissa! Oh great!!! I buy this from Nijiya or Marina (it’s a Chinese grocery store) in Peninsula. 🙂
I use organic unsweetened soy milk from Trader Joe’s. 🙂
Remember to watch the broth and don’t “boil” it to prevent from curdling. 🙂
This looks delicious! Great for late night dinners!
Thank you Anna! 🙂
What a great dish!! This looks marvelous 🙂
Thank you so much, Mary! 🙂
Hi Shar! So happy to hear you had a chance to try Tonyu Nabe in Japan! It’s rare to see this nabe on the restaurant menu (even in Japan) so we have to make it at home! 🙂 Make sure not to boil if you don’t want the soup to have too much curdle. 😉
Thank you for your Tonyu Nabe recipe.
My family loved the soy milk hot pot!
We used to go to this japanese restaurant in Sydney to have soy milk hotpot all the time and its not cheap….
Now we dont need to go out for this anymore!
thanks so much!
i loved your blog,
The recipes are all great, fail proof safe and very yummy!
I especially loved your explanations on the uses of Japanese utensils and groceries.
Hi Amanda! I’m so happy to hear your family loved the soy milk hot pot! It’s wonderful that you get to eat soy milk hot pot in a Japanese restaurant in Sydney. It’s hard to find it on the menu here. The ingredients are reasonable price, but when it’s “unique” the price at the restaurant can be a bit more expensive. 🙂 Hope you will enjoy eating this at home now. 🙂
Thank you for following my blog and for trying my recipes. I’m so glad to hear you liked my blog. 🙂
I don’t like soy milk so can I use normal milk?
Hi Minh! I think you can, but it’ll be a different dish and I haven’t tried using regular milk before. 🙂
I love all hotpot recipes!
Would you recommend adding noodles (e.g. rice noodles that typically don’t soak up too much soup) for this recipe?
How about replacing pork with seafood? The pork adds to the umami but I am trying to cut down on red meat consumption.
Hi Kyt! Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear you like my hot pot recipes. 🙂
You can add udon noodles or your favorite noodles at the end (after you pick up all the ingredients from the pot).
You can replace pork with seafood too. Ingredients are pretty flexible.
The curdling of the soy milk is because of the salt/saltiness. If you ever been to Taiwan, one of their popular breakfast is salty soybean (鹹豆漿). They served the salty soybean with spring onions, soy sauce, youtiao (chinese cruller) and some sesame oil. The soy milk will curdled up, something like chinese porridge/ congee.
Hi Sherril! I personally LOVE bean curdle!! I’m actually in Taiwan right now visiting my in-laws. Taiwanese breakfast is one of my favorite foods here! 🙂
A perfect recipe. I used salmon instead of pork and added udon. Everyone was so happy. Thank you!
Hi Mariko! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! I just made it tonight. It has been snowing whole day in NYC. This is exactly the one pot food I need 🙂
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
this looks so good! Definitely need to make this!
Thank you Judi! Hope you enjoy!
I was just watching a show on NHK about soymilk nabe curdling… they suggest using wakame dashi in it! Completely prevents curdling apparently.
Hi Lisa! It’s actually Kombu dashi that they were referring, and it recommends 1:1 ratio for soy milk and kombu dashi. I use 2 cups vs. 3 cups (more dashi), but still get some curdling (maybe less?). I read more and it says the salt content is the reason why soy milk is turning “tofu”/curdling. As miso is salty, it’s probably why. The lady from tofu restaurant (on the TV show) recommends simple soy milk and kombu dashi, and dip in salty sauce instead. That might work. 🙂
For anyone who wants to read about the show notes in Japanese, it’s available here: https://www1.nhk.or.jp/asaichi/archive/170124/1.html
Thank you for sharing Lisa!
This is wonderful! I really love how rich and savory this creamy broth is. Your finished picture looks so prim and proper! Mine was a curdled mess. Hahaha. I’m okay with that though. I cooked it in a personal sized donabe, so it’s much harder to regulate the temperature (tiny adjustments to the flame make a big difference) and to skim the broth (I filled it too full of ingredients to do that haha). I think I”m going to get a 2-person sized one to make most of my hot pot meals and just save the leftovers. Great recipe as always. Is this always made with pork? Could it be made with seafood?
Hi Lion! I know how it is with soy milk, so for the purpose of photography, I cooked the pork separately for this dish (that’s the only dish I can’t show raw). I usually don’t “fake” the process but this is probably one of the few exceptions. Food photography has to be perfect for people to be inspired to cook…. I personally don’t mind the curdles although I try my best not to make too much. 🙂
Yeah a little bit bigger pot might be good, especially you want to put more vegetables and give some space for liquid. The soymilk nabe is usually with pork as beef has more flavor and too strong for soymilk. But we’re just used to eating soymilk with pork variations in Japan, and people who’re new may not as bothered as much if you use beef. Seafood can be good too!
I made this hot pot tonight. It was incredible!! It was super easy. I am not sure if would go back to regular hot pot after this one. Thank you for the amazing recipe.
Hi Naoko! Haha yeah I know what you mean. We had Chankonabe over the weekend and tonight we had Shabu Shabu. We felt it’s a bit plain too. LOL. So happy to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind comment!
Hi pls send me recipes. Thank you!
Hi Hilda! The recipe is inside the blog post. You can print out using a print button if you like. 🙂
This looks amazing!! Does it reheat well as leftovers? How long will it keep in the refrigerator? Thanks!!
Hi Maria! I reheat my hot pot, but only keeps for 24 hours and no more than that. 🙂
I have made this recipe twice. First time, my family like the soy milk broth flavor which were made from store brought soy milk. but we were little bit distracted by the vanilla additional flavor which were added in the cartooned soy milk. Tonight I made this soy milk hotpot with my homemade soy milk made from scratch. The broth came out tastier. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hi Nana! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! OH! Can you find the unsweetened original soymilk (not sweet, no additional flavor) at your store? But I guarantee your homemade soy milk is far better than store-bought one! I’m jealous! It must have been such a wonderful hot pot! 🙂
Yes, home made soy milk came out creamier. My husband love hot spicy taste. So I completed the soup with the hot spicy sauce. Mixture of chillies (a lot of it🌶️🌶️🌶️) , grinded sesame seed, miso, soy sauce, and palm sugar. It was a nice additional taste for the soup.
Wonderful, thank you for sharing it Nana! 🙂
Right after I poured in soy milk, it curdled:
https://i.imgur.com/6pquYht.jpg
I guess the water was too hot? I couldn’t taste any soy milk, I think because it curdled.
Hi hmucha! Did you microwave till it’s warm? It should be warm when it’s added. And any soy milk hot pot DO curdle. Even at a restaurant or cooking at home… you just have to remove them, use lower heat. However, it will only start to curdle after you put all the ingredients and start cooking. 🙂
Do you think you almond milk can be used instead of soy? I know it might not taste the same
Hi Mars! Personally, soy milk tastes well in this recipe and it has the right flavor… but some readers say almond milk worked. I haven’t tried it myself though. 🙂
Can you recommend a good hotpot to buy?
Hi Janice!
Nami buys her Donabe from https://toirokitchen.com/
You can also check here; https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VKTQMI/?ref=exp_justonecookbook_dp_vv_d
We hope this helps!🙂