Instant Pot Sumo Soup (Chanko Nabe)

Instant Pot Sumo Soup (Chanko Nabe). Sumo wrestler soup, loaded with homemade meatballs, tofu, mushrooms, and chicken broth.

This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Japanese Hot Pots, by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat. It’s a slim volume dedicated to, well, Japanese Hot Pots, and is a fantastic source of comfort meals.

What is Chanko Nabe?

Chanko Nabe is the hot pot I keep coming back to. It is the protein heavy soup that sumo wrestlers eat (and eat, and eat) to bulk up. Now, I may not want the bulk of a sumo, but they are on to something good with this soup. Chicken broth flavored with sake is used to simmer meatballs, tofu, mushrooms, and cabbage. (It’s an “everything leftover in the kitchen” type of soup, so if you’ve got other vegetables you want to add, throw them in there.)

The trick to this soup is homemade broth - it’s the trick to every soup, actually. If you don’t have homemade broth put aside, before you start this recipe, grab some chicken backs or a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store and get pressure cooking. Once you’ve made a soup with your own homemade broth, you will never want to go back to cartons of store-bought broth.

Ingredients

• Ground chicken
• Red or brown miso (or soy sauce)
• Scallions
• Ginger
• Panko bread crumbs
• Fine sea salt
• Egg
• Sake (or dry sherry, or dry vermouth)
• Chicken broth
• Garlic
• Firm tofu
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Napa cabbage (or shredded green cabbage)
• Minced scallions (optional garnish)
• Yuzu Kosho (optional hot sauce accompaniment)

Most of the ingredients in this recipe can be found in a well-stocked modern grocery store. There were a few tricky ones for me, though. Miso is available at my local health food stores or Asian markets. Sake was at my local beverage store, but I had to dig for it - dry sherry or dry vermouth are OK substitutes.

The other tricky ingredient is Yuzu Kosho. It is a Japanese paste made from hot chilies, salt, and Yuzu, a citrus fruit that is kind of like a mandarin-orange sized grapefruit. (Hey, that’s the best explanation I can come up with for Yuzu.). I find it at Asian markets, and a spoon of it stirred in at the table adds a nice burst of citrus and heat to the soup.

Prepping the gingger: I like using my knife skills to mince the ginger into tiny cubes. Grating ginger is the quick way to prep it for this recipe, but it turns it into a paste. I like the extra bite of ginger when I get a piece of ginger in my soup, but there's nothing wrong with taking the easy way out. (Especially if it grating vs mincing is the difference in you making this recipe. Take the easy way out!)

How to Make Chanko Nabe

Shape the meatballs: Put the ground chicken, miso paste. scallion, ginger, bread crumbs, and salt in a large bowl, and work everything together until evenly mixed. Add the egg and work it into the mix. Form the meat mix into 12 golf-ball sized meatballs, about 2 inches in diameter.
Simmer the meatballs in the sake, then everything in the pot: Put the meatballs in an Instant Pot in a single layer. Set the pot to sauté mode, then pour in the Sake. Bring the sake to a boil, and boil for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol. Pour in the chicken broth, and add the crushed garlic, tofu, mushrooms, and shredded cabbage.
Pressure Cook for 10 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Let the pressure to come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (If you’re in a hurry, quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes.)
Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with extra minced scallions, and serve, passing Yuzu Koshu hot sauce at the table.

Serving Suggestions

This is a one-pot meal - you've got meat, vegetables, and starch all combined in one. I usually serve soups with a side salad, and my Napa Cabbage Slaw is what I usually make. A green side is also good, and I like serving with my bok choy recipe. If you can’t find Yuzu Koshu, substitute another hot sauce, like Sriracha or Gochujang. They add a bit of heat and vinegar to the bowl, even if they’re not Japanese.

Some recipes suggest adding udon noodles, so if you really want them, cook them separately and add them to the pot, or pass them at the table for people to add to their bowl.

Storing Leftovers

Soup makes great leftovers, and this soup is no exception. I make up 2-cup containers with any leftovers, and they'll keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days, or for up to 6 months in the freezer.

Inspired by: Japanese Hot Pots by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat

Related Posts

Instant Pot Chicken Back Broth
Instant Pot Chinese Beef Noodle Soup with Short Ribs
Instant Pot Chinese Pork Meatballs (Lion’s Head meatballs)
Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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