Sep 17 2026
Nabe: A Complete Guide to Japanese Hot Pot and Its Most Popular Types
When winter arrives in Japan, one dish shows up on more dinner tables than almost any other: nabe, a simmering pot of broth, vegetables, and protein that the whole table shares straight from the pot. It’s less a single recipe than an entire category of cooking — and once you know the main types, it’s easy to see why nabe has stayed a winter staple for so long.
This guide covers what nabe actually is, how it’s traditionally eaten, and the most popular varieties you’re likely to come across, whether you’re ordering it at a restaurant in Japan or making it at home.
What Is Nabe?
Nabe (鍋), short for nabemono, is a general term for Japanese hot pot dishes — a broad category rather than one specific recipe. The word literally means “pot,” and a nabe dish can include almost any combination of meat, seafood, tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables, simmered together in a seasoned broth right at the table.
Nabe is traditionally cooked in a donabe, a thick clay pot that holds heat well and keeps the broth at a steady simmer, often placed over a portable tabletop burner so the pot keeps cooking throughout the meal. As people eat, more ingredients are typically added to the pot in batches, so the meal stretches out over a long, relaxed sitting rather than being served all at once.
How Nabe Is Traditionally Eaten
Nabe is fundamentally a communal dish. Everyone sits around the same pot, cooking and serving themselves as they go — in that sense, it has more in common with fondue than with a typical individually-plated Western meal. There’s no strict order to follow; people generally take what looks ready, add more raw ingredients to keep the pot going, and eat in relaxed rounds rather than distinct courses.
One tradition worth knowing is the shime, or “ending,” of the meal. Once the meat, seafood, and vegetables are gone, the broth left behind has absorbed all their flavor — and rather than let it go to waste, it’s common to finish the meal by adding rice or noodles directly into the pot. Adding rice with a beaten egg creates a thick, savory dish called zosui, while adding noodles turns the last of the broth into a simple, comforting bowl of soup.
Popular Types of Nabe
Nabe varies enormously by region and by household, but a handful of styles have become well known both in Japan and abroad.
Yosenabe
Yosenabe is the most flexible and common style, and a good way to describe what nabe is in general: the name roughly means “gathered” or “put-together” pot, and it typically includes a mix of seafood, chicken, tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables simmered in a dashi-based broth seasoned with soy sauce and mirin. There’s no fixed recipe — it’s built around whatever good ingredients are on hand.
Sukiyaki
One of the most famous nabe dishes outside Japan, sukiyaki features thinly sliced beef simmered with vegetables and tofu in a sweetened soy sauce broth made with mirin and sugar. Cooked pieces are traditionally dipped in raw beaten egg before eating, which cools the food slightly and adds a rich, silky coating.
Shabu-Shabu
Named for the swishing sound the meat makes as it’s cooked, shabu-shabu involves briefly swishing paper-thin slices of beef or pork through simmering kombu broth using chopsticks, cooking each piece in just a few seconds. It’s typically served with a dipping sauce — either a sesame-based sauce or a citrusy ponzu — rather than being seasoned in the broth itself.
Chanko-Nabe
Chanko-nabe takes its name from chanko, the food traditionally eaten in a sumo stable, and refers to the hot pot version of that meal. It was developed to provide the large, balanced meals sumo wrestlers need, and it’s still closely associated with sumo culture today. It typically combines chicken or seafood, meatballs, tofu, and vegetables in a rich broth, often with noodles or rice added to increase the calorie count. Traditionally, four-legged animals like beef and pork are avoided in chanko-nabe, since “going down on all fours” is associated with a sumo wrestler’s loss.
Motsunabe
A specialty of Fukuoka in southern Japan, motsunabe is built around beef or pork offal (motsu), typically simmered with garlic, chili, and Chinese chives in either a soy sauce or miso-based broth. It has a richer, more savory character than most other nabe styles.
Mizutaki
Also associated with Fukuoka, mizutaki is a lighter dish featuring chicken and vegetables simmered in a delicate, clear broth, usually built from little more than chicken bones and water. It’s typically served with a ponzu dipping sauce that lets the natural flavor of the chicken come through.
Kimchi Nabe
A more modern favorite, kimchi nabe uses a spicy, tangy kimchi-based broth, usually with pork, tofu, and vegetables. It’s an easy entry point for people new to nabe, since the flavor profile is closer to familiar Korean-style stews, and the spice level can be adjusted by how much kimchi is used.
Ishikari-Nabe
A regional specialty from Hokkaido, ishikari-nabe features salmon and vegetables in a miso-based broth, often finished with a pat of butter — a nod to Hokkaido’s dairy industry. It’s a hearty, warming dish suited to the region’s cold winters.
Yudofu
The simplest style on this list, yudofu is little more than soft tofu gently simmered in a clear kombu broth, usually served with a ponzu or soy-based dipping sauce. It’s especially associated with Kyoto’s temple cuisine and is a popular option for vegetarians.
Oden
Technically a bit different from other nabe dishes, oden features ingredients like daikon radish, boiled eggs, fish cakes, and konjac simmered slowly in a soy-based dashi broth, often for hours, until deeply infused with flavor. It’s a common sight at Japanese convenience stores in winter, sold hot straight from a simmering pot at the counter.
Trying Nabe for Yourself
Nabe is easy to recreate outside Japan: most of what you need is a good dashi-based broth, a portable burner or any pot that can go straight to the table, and whatever protein, tofu, and vegetables you’d like to add. Japanese grocery stores also sell ready-made nabe broth bases in a wide range of styles, from kimchi to sesame to miso, which make it simple to try a specific regional version without building the broth from scratch.
Choosing a Pot: Why Donabe Is Worth It
The pot itself matters more than people expect. A well-made donabe holds onto heat and keeps a dish warm for far longer than a thin metal pot does, even after the burner is turned down, which is part of why nabe restaurants in Japan almost always bring the dish to the table still simmering in clay rather than metal.
For larger groups, a roomy, heat-resistant clay pot works especially well. A pot like the Hangout Hot Pot for 4 is designed to go straight from the stove to the table and keep the broth simmering gently throughout a long, shared meal, which is really the whole point of nabe in the first place.
However you make it, the appeal of nabe stays the same wherever you are: a shared pot, a long unhurried meal, and a bowl of something warm at the end of it.