Image: Wikimedia Commons
Motsunabe is a hot pot dish originating in Hakata, Fukuoka, in which beef or pork motsu (offal) is simmered with cabbage, garlic chives, garlic, and chili peppers in a soy sauce or miso-based broth. It is said to have started right after the war, during a time of food shortages, when people simmered inexpensive beef offal together with vegetables in an aluminum pot. As food supplies improved, cabbage was added, and the dish settled into its current form of offal, garlic chives, cabbage, soy sauce-based broth, and a final course of champon noodles. Specialty restaurants rapidly increased in Hakata from the late 1980s, and a nationwide 'motsunabe boom' in the early 1990s established it as one of Fukuoka's signature local dishes. Its popularity also owes to the springy texture of the offal and the well-balanced nutrition of eating plenty of vegetables in one dish.
Origin
In the postwar era of food shortages, it is said that people began simmering inexpensive and readily available beef or pork offal together with garlic chives and chili peppers in an aluminum pot. There is also a theory that coal miners at the time ate it to build up stamina, making it a dish born out of the everyday lives of ordinary people in Hakata.
History
Later, as cabbage production increased, it was added to the dish, developing into the current form of offal, garlic chives, cabbage, soy sauce-flavored broth, and a final course of champon noodles. From the late 1980s through the 1990s, specialty motsunabe restaurants opened one after another in Hakata, and the motsunabe boom of the early 1990s spread the dish across the country all at once.
Features
There are two main flavor types, soy sauce-based and miso-based, and it is characteristic of the Hakata style to use generous amounts of cabbage and garlic chives, at least as much as the offal itself. The dish has a bold flavor accented with garlic and chili pepper, and the fat and umami rendered from the offal dissolve into the broth. It is customary to finish the meal by simmering champon noodles in the remaining broth.
Main Ingredients
Famous Shops
博多もつ鍋 おおやま 本店
福岡県福岡市博多区店屋町7-28
A popular restaurant offering a choice of three broths: miso, soy sauce, and mizutaki-style. Motsunabe for one person starts at around 2,178 yen (tax included).
もつ鍋 楽天地 博多駅前二丁目店
福岡県福岡市博多区博多駅前2-5-23
Founded roughly 50 years ago, a motsunabe specialty chain with multiple locations in the city. Budget of around 3,500 yen and up.
博多名物 もつ鍋 笑楽 博多駅店
福岡県福岡市博多区博多駅中央街1-1 くうてん10F
A motsunabe specialty restaurant founded over 30 years ago. Uses offal sourced from Kyushu, with a budget of around 3,000 yen and up.
FAQ
Q. Why is champon noodles used to finish motsunabe?
A. To savor every last bit of the broth infused with umami from the offal, finishing the meal with thick champon noodles, which readily soak up broth, became the standard Hakata style. Some shops also finish with rice porridge (zosui) instead of noodles.