It’s been cold and rainy and nasty all day, just the weather I’ve been waiting for to make the last on my list of Japanese Hot Pots I wanted to try: Ishikari Nabe, or Salmon Hot Pot. Underneath all that salmon and tofu and mushrooms are cabbage and potatoes cooked in a miso broth. In short, it’s a Japanese fisherman’s stew.
It feels ironic to making this now, because Ishikari is in northern Japan, on the west coast of Hokkaido, and the people who invented it are taking up collections to help the people hit hard by the tsunami. I wish I could send them all hot pots.
There’s certainly no shortage of lists suggesting where you can donate, along with advice that maybe you ought to wait to find out what is the most effective way to help. Just the sort of thing a procrastinator like me needs to hear. Or not. I think I’m going to follow the advice to use the impulse to give and donate to a cause that’s being overlooked. There’s always someone who can use a hot pot.
Writing Every Day 