Komakata Dojo’s founder Sukeshichi Echigoya (越後屋助七) is said to have invented dojo nabe (dozeu nabe / どぜう鍋 / dojo loach hot pot) in the early 1800s at Komakata Dojo (Komakata Dozeu / 駒形どぜう).
Here’s what the original dojo nabe looks like at the first location of Komakata Dojo Asakusa (駒形どぜう 浅草本店) in Tokyo.
A loach at Komakata Dojo Asakusa.
Loaches in Japan are like loaches anywhere. We, the Japanese, don’t eat them. It’s more unlikely than non-Jewish Americans eating gefilte fish. It won’t happen. But since we don’t practice kosher, loaches can be an option.
In Japanese, loaches are called dojo / dozeu (どじょう / どぜう). When loaches are eaten, they are usually served as dojo nabe (どぜう鍋 / dozeu nabe / dojo loach hot pot). Komakata Dojo is said to be the pioneer and the master of the dish.
The storefront of Komakata Dojo Asakusa (駒形どぜう 浅草本店).
A dining room of Komakata Dojo Asakusa.
Komakata Dojo Asakusa’s menu.
There are two options for dojo nabe at Komakata Dojo Asakusa: plain dojo nabe and yanagawa nabe (柳川鍋) with chicken eggs. They also have whale meat items which make up almost 40% of the menu.
A plain dojo nabe.
An extra warishita broth (割下) dispenser, left, green onions, right.
A bamboo bottle of shichimi spice mix (七味唐辛子), left, sansho pepper (山椒), right.
My plain dojo nabe came with a mini-hot pot where a dozen of loaches (dojo) were squeezed, an extra warishita broth (割下) dispenser, green onions, bamboo bottles of Japanese shichimi spice mix and Japanese sansho pepper, and extra long chopsticks to cook the plain dojo nabe. It was quite DIY. The loaches were pre-stewed: they were drowned in sake first, then stewed in miso-flavored soup. The DIY cooking I took part in was the final process to consume the plain dojo nabe.
On the plate, clockwise, a dojo loach, green onions, Japanese sansho pepper, and Japanese shichimi spice mix.
The loaches barely kept their forms, which means they were perfectly cooked (I was sort of relieved). They literally melt in my mouth. It was like tofu with bones. Although the bones were edible, they didn’t get me high. For the price of 2050 yen ($15.80), it was worth it.
Well done. They all were.
Komakata Dojo Asakusa (駒形どぜう 浅草本店) | 1-7-12 Komagata, Taito City, Tokyo 〒111-0043, Japan
