bamboo shoots
Although Japanese diners do not eat beef very often, sukiyaki is one of the most popular and well known of the nabemono dishes, both in Japan and in North America. If you choose to substitute bite-sized pieces of chicken for beef, this dish is called torisuki.
Nabemono dishes combine meat or seafood and vegetables in one pot to make a hearty and satisfying meal. In Japan, “nabe” cooking is done at the table, using a pot heated over a gas or charcoal burner.
Meals featuring nabemono are particularly popular in the winter because the heat of the burner warms the room as well as cooks the food.
Fresh peas are often eaten boiled and flavored with butter and/or spearmint as a side dish vegetable. Salt and pepper are also commonly added to peas when served. Fresh peas are also used in pot pies, salads and casseroles. Pod peas (particularly sweet cultivars called mange tout and sugar peas, or the flatter "snow peas," called hé lán dòu, 荷兰豆 in Chinese) are used in stir-fried dishes, particularly those in American Chinese cuisine. Pea pods do not keep well once picked, and if not used quickly are best preserved by drying, canning or freezing within a few hours of harvest.
