Motsunabe is a hot pot dish in which offal meat such as the small and large intestines of beef or pork is cooked in soy sauce and miso-flavored soup with Chinese chive, cabbage, garlic, and chili peppers. A metal pot is used for cooking.
Originally a local dish of Fukuoka prefecture in Kyusyu, it became known in Tokyo after 1992, and now it can be eaten in places other than Fukuoka.
What is iMotsunabe and and can I eat it?
Materials of Motsunabe
Offal meat of beef or pork, Chinese chive, cabbage, garlic, chili, Chinese noodles, soy sauce, miso, dashi
| Low-gluten | Low FODMAPs | |||
| with Beef | with Pork |
| Restaurant |
Motsunabe is a dish that originated in the Korean Peninsula
“Motsu” means the offal meat of beef and pork, and is also called “Horumon” (what is thrown away = what is discarded). In Japan, there was no custom of eating offal meat, but it is said that the food eaten by workers from the Korean Peninsula is the root of motsunabe.
In the era of food shortages after the Second World War, we began to boil offal meat and Chinese chives in soy sauce-flavored soup, which evolved into the current hot pot.
Motsunabe soup is made by seasoning soup stock from bonito and kelp with soy sauce, miso, and salt. Depending on the restaurant, you may be able to choose your favorite soup from several types of soup.
Put this soup in a metal pan, add offal meat, Chinese chives, cabbage, garlic, and chili peppers and simmer to complete. It is also customary to add Chinese noodles to the soup after eating the ingredients and eat it last.
Try to eat Motsunabe !
How much ?
$ 15～35
Where can I eat Motsunabe ?
Motsunabe specialty restaurant
Precautions when eating Motsunabe
For gluten-free people with celiac disease
Soy sauce may be used in the soup of motsunabe. Wheat is used as a raw material for soy sauce, but the protein is decomposed during the brewing process and does not remain in the product. Wheat flour is the raw material for Chinese noodles that you put in a pot at the end of a meal. If you want to eat motsunabet, finish the meal just before adding the Chinese noodles.
For gluten-free people other than celiac disease
Soy sauce may be used in the soup of motsunabe, but it is a small amount. However, Chinese noodles are noodles made from wheat flour, so please do not eat them.
For Muslims
Motsunabe is not halal, so never eat it.
Japanese writer’s comment for Motsunabe
The three points of a delicious motsunabe are that the offal meat is fresh, that the offal meat is properly prepared, and that the soup does not leave the odor of the offal meat.
There are many motsunabe specialty restaurants in Fukuoka, and they are competing with each other. If you want to eat motsunabe in Fukuoka, it’s best to ask the hotel staff which restaurant is best for you.
Elsewhere, the quality of motsunabe is proportional to the price. High-priced restaurants buy fresh offal meat and prepare it properly.
