This recipe guides you through making a healthy and flavorful one-pot hot pot, featuring tender beef, various vegetables, and tofu, served with a zesty sesame-soy dipping sauce.
1. Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, water, sugar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, scallions, garlic, and cilantro if using.
2. Make the stew: In a medium pot, heat 1 Tbsp sesame oil over medium-high heat, then add the onion and ginger. Cook until the onion begins to soften (3-5 mins), then add the garlic. Cook for 1 min, then add the chicken broth, salt, pepper, soy sauce, and kabocha squash. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and simmer for 3 mins.
3. Uncover and add the Napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and tofu. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 3 mins.
4. Add the spinach and beef, letting them float near the surface, and cook uncovered for 1–2 minutes, until the beef is medium-rare (or cooked to your preference).
5. Serve the stew in bowls with individual sauce bowls on the side. To eat, dip each ingredient into the sauce before enjoying. You can eat all the ingredients with sauce first, then sip the broth at the end.
