Step 1

Mise en Place:

Step 2

Prepare the dashi stock.

Step 3

Lightly salt the fish on both sides and place in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for 1 hour. (This curing helps concentrate its flavor.) Remove the fish, wipe off excess moisture on its surface with a paper towel, and slice it into 3/4-inch pieces. Set aside.

Step 4

Trim off the bottom head of the napa cabbage, separate the leaves, and rinse well to remove dirt, especially at the stems. Pat dry. Place a cabbage leaf flat on a cutting board. Starting from the white stem end, cut the leaf on a sharp diagonal into 2-inch wide pieces. (Cuttting the leaf at an angle exposes more surface area for the absorption of broth.) Segment the green part of the leaf in half or thirds, to make bite-size pieces. Repeat with the remaining leaves.

Step 5

Rinse, pat dry, and remove any dead leaves off of the negi. Trim off the root and slice the whites and greens at an angle to form 2-inch pieces.

Step 6

Drain, pat dry, and divide the tofu into 4 blocks.

Step 7

Wipe off any dirt on the enoki and shimeji with a damp paper towel. Trim the root and separate the mushrooms.

Step 8

Rinse and dry the mizuna leaves. Trim the leaves and cut down the stems into 2-inch pieces.

Step 9

Cook somen using its package instructions. Drain and reserve.

Step 10

Broth:

Step 11

Prepare the broth by combining the soy milk, dashi, the 1/2 teaspoon salt, and shiro miso in a bowl, whisking to blend well. Reserve.

Step 12

Edibles:

Step 13

Add the cabbage, negi, tofu, enoki mushrooms, and shimeji mushrooms to a hot pot, arranging each ingredient into separate neat bunches. Pour in the broth.

Step 14

Cover the hot pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Keep an eye on your ingredients as they cook. If necessary, press them into the broth as they simmer so they poach uniformly.

Step 15

Uncover the pot and arrange the black cod slices on top of the other ingredients. Simmer until the fish is cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Skim off any scum that builds up on the surface of the broth.

Step 16

Add the mizuna and simmer for 1 minute more.

Step 17

Serving:

Step 18

Transfer the hot pot to the dining table. Serve the ingredients together with the broth in small bowls, accented each bowl with wasabi.

Step 19

Shime:

Step 20

After most of the hot pot ingredients have been eaten and only the broth remains, finish the broth off by making a shime of somen. Add the pre-cooked somen to the broth and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the hot pot boils, turn off the heat. Serve the noodles and broth in individual bowls.