Mizutaki (Hakata-Style Chicken Hot Pot)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 福岡県
Servings: 4人分
Mizutaki (Hakata-Style Chicken Hot Pot) is a home-style meat dish. A milky, full-bodied broth is the hallmark of Hakata mizutaki. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- Bone-in chicken thighs (cut into chunks) 800 g
- Chicken liver and gizzard 2 each (about 100 g)
- Water 1.6 L
- Chicken bone broth 800 ml
- Cabbage 6 leaves (about 300 g)
- Negi (Japanese green onion) 1/2 stalk
- Dried harusame (glass noodles) 60 g
- Shungiku (garland chrysanthemum) 100 g
- Fresh shiitake 8
- Firm tofu 1/2 block (about 150 g)
- Carrot (cut into maple-leaf shapes) 2 pieces
- Salt a little
- [Ponzu] Rice vinegar 50 ml
- [Ponzu] Soy sauce 50 ml
- [Ponzu] Daidai vinegar (or yuzu juice) 15–30 ml
- [Ponzu] Mirin 30 ml
- [Condiments] Scallions (thinly sliced) 20 g
- [Condiments] Grated ginger 15 g
- [Condiments] Momiji-oroshi (grated daikon with chili) 50 g
- Mochi, udon, or rice for the finish as desired
Steps
- Cut the bone-in chicken at the joints, then into 3–4 cm chunks. Trim sinew and blood from the livers and halve them; rinse livers and gizzards in light salted water and pat dry.
- Briefly dip the chicken in boiling water until the surface turns white, then transfer to cold water and rinse off blood and scum (shimofuri). This keeps the broth clear of murk and odor.
- Put 1.6 L water and the chicken in a large pot over high heat. When it boils, skim carefully, lower to medium, set the lid ajar, and simmer about 40 minutes until the bones yield flavor and the broth turns whitish.
- Add the liver and gizzard to cook through, then pour in 800 ml chicken bone broth and bring to a brief boil. You can do this much a day ahead and just reheat on the day.
- Soak the harusame in warm water and cut into easy lengths. Rough-chop the cabbage, slice the negi on the diagonal, pick the shungiku leaves, trim and decorative-cut the shiitake, and cut the tofu into bite sizes.
- Mix the ponzu ingredients and set out scallions, grated ginger, and momiji-oroshi in small dishes.
- Transfer broth and chicken to a donabe and warm at the table. First pour broth alone into a cup with a pinch of salt and scallions to taste. Then eat the chicken with ponzu and condiments.
- Once the broth is rich, add cabbage, shiitake, tofu, carrot, negi, harusame, and shungiku in that order—harder items first—and cook as you eat.
- When the fillings are gone, stir rice into the leftover broth with beaten egg and scallions for zosui, or finish with mochi or udon.
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Notes
A milky, full-bodied broth is the hallmark of Hakata mizutaki. Use bone-in meat and give the first simmer plenty of time.
Tasting the broth alone first is the Hakata way. Use only a little salt and savor the chicken umami.
If bone-in meat is hard to find, equal parts chicken wingettes and thigh meat come close.
For ponzu, yuzu or sudachi juice can replace daidai. Store-bought ponzu is fine too.
Cabbage is the classic Hakata vegetable; its sweetness melts into the broth. Napa cabbage works well as well.
Origin and history
Mizutaki is Fukuoka’s signature hot pot: bone-in chicken simmered long for broth, then chicken and vegetables cooked in it and eaten with ponzu and condiments. Also called Hakata mizutaki, its cloudy, umami-rich white broth is the main draw.
It is said to have taken shape in Meiji-era Hakata under influences from Chinese-style stewed chicken that reached Nagasaki and from Western consommé, becoming a Japanese nabemono. Today it is a must-try when visiting Fukuoka, with many specialty shops.
Tradition holds that mizutaki was also eaten at the close of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival, nourishing the men who carried the heavy floats. Change the seasonal vegetables and enjoy it year-round; finishing with zosui so nothing is wasted is part of the charm.