Japanese Faves: Donabe 1: Sweet Chicken Hotpot

A donabe is a flameproof and oven proof earthenware lidded bowl used to make nabemono, which are hearty one-pot dishes somewhat like soups or stews. These dishes are often cooked at the table on a portable or built-in burner, often with guest participation, and are served from the bowl. Donanbe are used to cook fun, communal meals, ideal for cold winter nights. This hotpot is chicken focused, with a sauce or broth somewhat sweetened by white miso and amazake, which is a rice and koji-based marinade or beverage. Feel free to vary the vegetable ingredients as much as you like. -- John Hornick
NOTE: DON'T FORGET GARNISH THE FINISHED DISH WITH SCALLIONS, LIKE I DID IN THE VIDEO!
Preparation time: about 2 hours
Instagram: @chefsapprenticecooklikeapro SEE THE FINISHED DISH
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Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (about 3.5 lbs.), broken down into parts, breasts each cut into 3 pieces (see my Bonus Lesson: How to Break Down a Chicken)
Kosher salt
Peppermill
About 2/3 cup flour
Olive oil
4 leaves of Napa cabbage, torn or cut into 3” to 4” pieces
About 2 cups shitake mushrooms, cut into ~3/8” slices
About 2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ~¾” cubes
About 1 cup (packed) baby spinach, bok choy (green and white parts, cut into 1” to 1 ½” pieces), or arugula, or a combination
About 1 ½ cups onion, cut into ~3/8” slices
1 cup dashi
2 Tb. sake
1 Tb. white miso (for more color and less sweetness, use red miso instead)
About 2 Tb. garlic, very thinly sliced
About 1 tsp. ginger, minced
¼ cup amazake (see my Japanese Faves Lesson: Making Shio Koji, Shoyu Koji, & Amazake)
2 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally (white and green parts)
1 Tb. Usukuchi shoyu
2 strips thick-cut bacon (bring to a boil, simmer 5-10 minutes, blot, and cut into ~½” squares)
About 2 Tb. daikon, grated or minced
1 red radish, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons
1 watermelon radish, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons
Sources: Usukuchi shoyu (thejapanesepan... ), Donabe (toirokitchen.com/)