Recommended Japanese Hot-Pot for Winter

【English】


My friend and I went out for dinner tonight in Tsukishima (a cute old town in Tokyo famous for Monjya-yaki) to have Ankou-Nabe, which my friend had been telling us all winter. Ankou means monkfish and Nabe means hot-pot, so it is a hot-pot dish with monkfish meat AND its liver. It was sooooo yammy. It wasn't the first time that I ate ankou-nabe, but this one was one of the kinds! It had so much liver that the soup was yellow. (Ok... little explanation, you folks might think it's gross that we eat monkfish liver, but ... it is an old delicacy in Japan and actually tastes a bit like foie gras, or even better... creamy, silky...ah...) If you have an access to a nice Japanese restaurant with Ankou-nabe, wherever you are, you should try the dish along with its liver.

If you are in Tokyo, I recommend this restaurant called Hoteiya in Tsukishima. Go there super hungry! The course-menu starts with goma-tofu (sesame tofu), a big plate of sashimi, ankou-nabe, and rice porridge (which is cooked in the remaining soup of ankou-nabe). You are guaranteed to be FULL and satisfied.



By the way, as I was looking up a link site for ankou, I found out that it has been over fished in the US ocean due to an increasing demand for its liver (I am assuming for the Japanese market). So I will promise you here that I won't .... ok... I will try my super best not to eat any liver of the monkfish or monkfish itself until the next winter... from now on, it will just be a once in a year delicacy for me...