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 for 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 an 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.
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 the 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
Donabe Seasoning and Care
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Soy Milk Hot Pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb thinly sliced pork loin (skip for vegetarian)
- 7 oz enoki mushrooms (1 package)
- 3.5 oz shimeji mushrooms (1 package)
- 4 shiitake mushrooms
- ¼ head napa cabbage (1.5 lb, 680 g)
- ½ bunch mizuna (Japanese mustard green) (or spinach or any leafy greens)
- 1 bunch shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) (or any leafy greens)
- 1 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) (or leek or green onions/scallions)
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 1 medium-firm tofu (momen dofu) (14 oz, 396 g)
- ½ daikon radish (1 lb, 454 g)
- 1 carrot (3 oz, 85 g)
- 1 gobo (burdock root) (5.3 oz, 150 g)
For the Hot Pot Soup
- 3 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (I use Awase Dashi; for vegan/vegetarian, make Vegan Dashi)
- ¼ cup sake
- ¼ cup mirin
- 2 cups unsweetened soy milk (microwave till it’s warm)
- ¼ cup miso
- 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (to taste)
Dipping Sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Hot Pot Broth
- In your donabe (earthenware pot) or a large pot, add 3 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock), ¼ cup sake, and ¼ cup mirin. Cover and bring the soup to a boil on medium heat.
- Once boiling, warm and add 2 cups unsweetened 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 white sesame seeds in a pestle and mortar.
- Once the soup is hot, add ¼ cup miso and the ground sesame seeds.
- Taste the soup and add ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt if you like it saltier. Depending 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.
To Prepare the Hot Pot Ingredients
- If your 1 lb thinly sliced pork loin is not thinly sliced, you have to slice it on your own. To see how, visit my post on How to Slice Meat Thinly (DIY). (Pictured below is thinly sliced beef.)
- Cut off and discard the bottom of 7 oz enoki mushrooms and 3.5 oz shimeji mushrooms.
- Cut off and discard the stem of 4 shiitake mushrooms. If you like, make a decorative cut on the shiitake caps.
- Cut ¼ head napa cabbage into 2-inch (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 ½ bunch mizuna (Japanese mustard green) (or spinach) and 1 bunch shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces.
- Cut 1 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) diagonally into pieces 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Thinly slice 1 green onion/scallion.
- Cut 1 medium-firm tofu (momen dofu) into 1-inch (2.5-cm) slices.
- Peel the skin off ½ daikon radish and 1 carrot. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the daikon and carrot into thin strips 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.
- Scrape the skin off 1 gobo (burdock root) with a knife. Then, peel the gobo into thin strips the same way as the 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.
To Cook the Hot Pot
- Start cooking some of the tough/dense vegetables (the tough part of napa cabbage leaves, negi, tofu, mushrooms, daikon, carrot, and gobo) over medium heat, saving some for later batch as well as the leafy vegetables that will cook fast. Cover the lid so it will cook faster. Once the broth is simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low heat so the broth won‘t curdle. Simmer for 10 minutes, but make sure you won‘t let it boil. You can either start serving food that’s cooked. Root vegetables take a longer time to cook. Add the meat and leafy vegetables and cover to cook until the meat is no longer pink. Using a fine-mesh skimmer, skim any curdles floating on the soup. You can eat the curdle or discard it.
To Enjoy
- Each person should have a small bowl of ponzu sauce and chopped scallions. Dip the cooked meat and vegetables in ponzu sauce to enjoy! Keep cooking the ingredients in the pot as you enjoy the meal.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and in the freezer for up to a month.
Notes
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 156, 2016. The content has been slightly updated.
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 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 looks so good! Definitely need to make this!
Thank you Judi! Hope you enjoy!
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! 🙂
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! 🙂
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! 🙂
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.
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
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. 😉
What a great dish!! This looks marvelous 🙂
Thank you so much, Mary! 🙂
This looks delicious! Great for late night dinners!
Thank you Anna! 🙂
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. 🙂
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 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!