Easy and Pretty Mille-Feuille Nabe (Shabu Shabu)

Step 1

Soak dried shitake mushrooms in warm water to fully rehydrate.

Step 2

Start stock by adding water, radish, anchovies, kelp, dried mushroom, onion to stock pot. Bring to boil and quickly lower to simmer. Simmer (should NOT be bubbling) for at least  30 min and season with 1 Tbs soy sauce and 1~2 tsp sea salt to taste. It should taste slightly under seasoned. Cool.

Step 3

Clean, wash cabbage and rip out the outer bigger leaves. Drain.

Step 4

Clean perilla leaves, bean sprouts, green onions and mushrooms. Shitake, Enoki, Brown Beech Mushrooms go in this recipe because they maintain great texture even when cooked. Shitake especially has great flavor!

Step 5

Now let's make some shabu shabu mille feuille (thousand leaves)! Start stacking by layering cabbage leaf -> perilla leaves -> shabu shabu beef. Like So -

Step 6

The beef slice used here is what's sold as Chadolbaegi (see my Know your beef cut! post for more info on Korean beef cuts). Usual Chadolbaegi cuts have more fat but this one didn't. The original recipe uses both chadolbaegi (brisket cut against the grain) and rib eye cuts. I only wrote rib eye in the ingredients list because I found these chadolbaegi slices can get a little tough since there is little fat. If you want to have tender, melt in your mouth beef slices, use well marbled rib eye or tenderloin instead.

Step 7

REPEAT cabbage -> perilla -> beef until you have 2 sets and then top with cabbage.

Step 8

Cut the cabbage stack into about 2 to 2.5 in (5 - 6.5 cm) slices. Adjust width according to how deep your pot is.

Step 9

Layer the bottom of the pot with bean sprouts. Add more or less bean sprouts to adjust the height of the stacks. Turn stack sideways and fill up the pot from the edges and work your way towards the center.  It looks most pretty when the stacks fill up almost to the top of the pot and the stacks are staggered.

Step 10

Now, add mushrooms in the center.

Step 11

Add anchovy stock until the ingredients are almost covered and top with some gonnyaku (miracle) noodles.

Step 12

Cover and bring to boil on med high heat. Uncover and keep cooking on med high heat for 10 min or until the cabbages are soft.

Step 13

While you wait, peel and chop some lemon skin. Also squeeze fresh lemon juice. To the lemon peel and juice, mix in soy sauce, vinegar, sugar or maesil extract, stock, chopped green chili and garlic.

Step 14

Now you are ready to serve!!!