Vegan Nabe Recipe! (Healthy Japanese hot-pot)

Ok, because I opted to watch a movie, & now it's just about time to sleep I'll pick the easier recipe for tonight (*ﾉ▽ﾉ) 

Vegan (& gluten-free) Nabe Recipe! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Ingredients:
- 1 Leek
- 1 medium Carrot
- 1 cup of Frozen peas (Fresh peas are even better!)
- 4 medium Mushrooms
- 1/2 a block of Firm tofu &/or Tempeh
- 1 small Daikon radish, or another kind of radish (Optional)
- Approx 1/4 of a small Cabbage (Any kind will do)
- Oil, Tamari, Mirin & Pepper for frying tofu/tempeh
- Fresh steamed rice to serve <3  (A rice cooker makes this super easy)
(BROTH)
- 1 & 1/2 cups of Water
- 1/2 a cup of Tamari soy sauce (A Gluten free variety like Spiral)
- 1/4 cup of Cooking Sake
- 1/4 cup of Mirin
- 4 - 6 tbs of Brown sugar (Raw sugar is also fine. Add bit by bit to suit your taste)

NOTE: It's helpful to use a large skillet with a lid for this recipe, but just about any large pot or pan will do (as long as it has a lid :)

Method:
1. Preparation for the tofu & tempeh is the same. A quick rise, pat dry, slice into short strips & gently saute with a splash of oil, tamari, mirin & pepper until lightly coloured, then set aside for later.
*Use the skillet you are going to cook the nabe in to save dishes ;)
2. Prepare all the vegetables. You can pretty much cut them up however you like, I simply slice most of them into strips to keep it simple & uniform.
3. Add all the ingredients for the broth to the skillet & heat over a medium flame, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the carrots to the broth, & when it begins to boil, reduce the heat to low, & simmer gently with lid on for 5 minutes.
4. Move the carrots aside & add all the remaining ingredients (including tofu/tempeh) except the peas. Keep ingredients in groups in the skillet, & simmer with the lid on until all vegetable are all cooked - (Approximately 15 minutes)
5. When all the vegetables are just tender (avoid over cooking them) make room for the peas & add them in, replace the lid, simmer for 2 minutes, & it's ready!

This is how the vegetables look in the skillet.

To serve, simply plop some fresh steamed rice into a bowl & form it into a dome shape (as seen in the photo) using the rice paddle. Then simply collect some of each ingredient & place it around the edges of the rice dome, & add some extra broth if desired :)

Nabe is quite a simple dish, & really doesn't take long to make. Mix & match different vegetables to make it the way you like :) I've started adding leafy greens to mine; silver beet & radish greens are both great, but I imagine any greens would be awesome ;) If you want to include leafy greens, add them to the broth at the very end with the peas to avoid over-cooking.

As always, please be sure to double check all your ingredients to make sure that they are Gluten-free & Vegan ;)

Enjoy everyone ｏ口(・∀・ )