A whole lot of cabbage

As the cold weather takes hold, I am eager to eat all the comfort foods of fall. Images of warms bowls of soup, thick hearty stews, and filling casseroles delight my mind and make me hungry.

Earlier this fall my husband entered a lottery to win the chance to go to a local farm and harvest vegetables. Our family was blessed with this opportunity this year. Unfortunately, our son happened to have school on the same Saturday, so it was just the eager adults attending.

The weather was chilly, but sunny, encouraging us to bundle up for our bike ride over to the “farm”. (I use quotation marks because it is so small, I have a hard time using the term. But it is his business, so it is the correct term.) We arrived a few minutes before 9 am.

We lined up to hear the farmer and city employees give us a few instructions as well as inform us how lucky we were, since we had a 1 in 8 chance of being selected. We would be able to take home 3 carrots, 2 daikon (long radish), and 1 napa cabbage.

We started with the carrots, pulling 3 big ones easily out of the dirt. Then we walked over to the cabbage patch, where the farmer chopped the biggest napa cabbage off its root that I’ve ever seen. Finally, my husband pulled 2 enormous daikon from the ground.

My husband and I quickly started discussing what we cook with these gigantic vegetables. We quickly decided we needed to make nabe (soup) with, at least, part of the cabbage. There is a popular nabe known as mille-feuille nabe. The cabbage is layered with thin slices of pork, looking very similar to the famous dessert with the same name.

That evening my son was eager to help his dad with preparing the soup pot. They worked quickly to stack everything and create a beautiful flower design. My husband added a simple broth, and turned on the stove to let it cook. He also simmered some daikon in a different broth as a side dish.

Soon, dinner was on the table and we were all enjoying the nabe. We all agreed that dinner was delicious and we would happily eat it again and again. It is a great meal to warm us up through and through - and so easy to make!

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Mille-Feuille Nabe
Serves 3-4

1 napa cabbage (about 6 lbs/2.7 kg)
1 1/2 lb/750g sliced pork belly
5 cups dash (Japanese soup stock)
2 tbsp sake

2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
Optional - ponzu for dipping

1. Cut the napa cabbage to the desired height - 2 to 2 1/2 inches or 5 to 6 cm.
2. Place each slice of pork belly between the napa leaves. If the pork is too long, you can trim to the desired length and use the excess in another layer.
3. Start packing the layers of napa cabbage/pork belly from the outer edges of the nabe pot (or whatever pot you are using). Work your way toward the center. The layers should be packed tightly as they will become loose as it cooks.
4. Work until the entire pot is filled. If you run out of napa/pork, you can put other ingredients in the center, like enoki mushrooms or mizuna (a bitter green).
5. Combine the dash, sake, and soy sauce. Pour it in the pot. Start cooking on high heat until boiling. Skim any foam. Then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes until the napa is tender and the pork is fully cooked.
6. Serve hot by itself or dip into ponzu.