This is another one of those great communal meals where everyone cooks the food themselves. Shabu-shabu is also popular around the world. Ideally, you should cook this in a hot-pot on a table cooker. The main difference between shabu-shabu and Sukiyaki is in the volume and make-up of the cooking broth. The term ‘Shabu-shabu’ comes from the sound the meat makes as it is moved around in the pot, so you can guess that there is much more broth in this recipe!

The only difficulty you might have if you source the meat yourself is persuading a butcher to slice it thinly enough. You can, however do this yourself with care. Simply put the meat into a freezer until nearly frozen, then using a very sharp knife cut cut into 3mm thin slices. The most commonly used meat is pork crop, but you can also use beef - the best cuts are Rib-eye and Chuck but you can also use brisket successfully as the fat partially dissolves in the broth adding to its flavour. This is known in Japan by its Korean name ‘kalbi’.

Although at first sight this recipe might seem complicated, in fact like Sukiyaki, most of the effort is in preparing the ingredients.

For the broth:

• 1.2 litres (6 cups) dashi

Other ingredients:

• Approx 250 gm pork or beef per person, cut into 3mm thin slices
• 6 thin leeks
• One pack udon noodles
• One pack tofu (340 gms)
• One pack of spinach or similar leafy vegetable
• Dipping sauces:Shoyu and citrus
• Roasted sesame flavour