Yanagawa Hot Pot

About Yanagawa Hot Pot

Yanagawa Hot Pot (柳川鍋, Yanagawa nabe) is a traditional hot pot dish from the Edo period, featuring loach fish as its star ingredient.

Similar to "Dozeu Nabe," another loach-based hot pot, Yanagawa Nabe is distinguished by its preparation method. The loach is filleted, simmered in a sweet-savory broth made with mirin and soy sauce, and finished with eggs for a comforting, rich flavor. Burdock root, thinly sliced into shavings, complements the loach, while optional additions like green onions or mitsuba parsley enhance the dish further.

In variations of this dish, other meats are cooked with burdock in a similar fashion and are referred to as "Yanagawa-style" or "○○ Yanagawa."

During the Edo period, both loach and burdock were considered highly nutritious ingredients, making Yanagawa Nabe especially popular during the summer to combat physical fatigue. In traditional haiku poetry, "loach" represents a summer seasonal word, emphasizing the cultural ties the dish has to the season. Affordable yet highly nourishing, loach became a beloved staple for ordinary people in Edo, offering both sustenance and satisfaction on hot summer days.

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