A day for "nabe" hot pot

As you will see in my next post, today is "ritto", the beginning of winter, in Japan. "Nabe" is synonymous with winter in Japan. "Nabe" is a type of hot pot that is popular during the winter months. Hence, they chose November 7th annually to be "Nabe (Hot Pot) Day".

There are many different type of hot pot dishes in Japan. For example, "sukiyaki", "shabu-shabu", "chiri nabe", "steamed hot pot", "duck hot pot", "oden", "soy milk hot pot", "kimchi hot pot", "mille-feuille hot pot", "dark hot pot", etc. "Motsu nabe" is another type of hot pot and today, November 7th, is also "Motsu nabe" day. In addition, it is "nabe and warm sake day" too! 

There are also some fun words associated with "nabe". For example, a person who specifies in great detail the order, position, and timing of adding ingredients to the hot pot dish, is called a "nabe magistrate". In addition, those stricter than that of the magistrate, maybe called a "Nabe Shogun" . Then there is the "Akudaikan" who is in charge of scooping up the lye floating on top!

Have you had "nabe" yet this year?