How to take care of your donabe pot

Recently, when cleaning my donabe I noticed it had a big chip out of the rim. I knocked a spoon against the bottom and it made a dull thud. Nuts, its life was over.

The kind of donabe I had is easily replaceable as it is a long seller. The new one has straighter sides than the old one, and the capacity is suitable for making meals for two people.

I’ll be more careful with this new one. 

How to season a donabe

Before it got used for its first meal, it needed some preparation. Just like a cast iron pot or pan, earthenware needs to be seasoned. This is because there’s a tradeoff with the heat-resistant clay that the donabe is made of - it has tiny pores that make the donabe absorb liquids.

The most common way to season a donabe is to boil rice in it. To get started, fill the nabe with water until it is about 80% full and add a cup of rice. Put in on low heat covered with the lid for about 30 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave it overnight. The next day, discard the rice, rinse and dry the pot.

A thrifty and fast way to achieve the same effect uses flour. Like the method above, fill it with the same amount of water, two tablespoons of flour, and boil it. After five minutes, turn the heat off, let it cool, and dry it thoroughly.

I tried another method and it left a good starchy finish on the pot - potato water. I saved and cooled the water in which I boiled potatoes, poured it into the nabe, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

After starchy potato water treatment

How to take care of it

Sure, these pots are meant to be put right on the heat, but there are some precautions. Make sure it is completely dry on the outside and feed it before you put in on the hob - never heat it when it’s empty.

While they’re pretty durable, make sure you don’t bang them against other ceramics. It looks like one too many times, I dropped the lid on my old donabe one too many times and that did it in.

When it comes to cleaning, remember that it is porous so avoid dish soap. A scrub with a tawashi and warm water removes anything stuck on and stains.

They'll acquire little hairline cracks, too, over time, and you can heal them up by seasoning them again. Because I alternate between cooking rice and hot pot stews, my nabe holds up pretty well.

Does your kitchen have one of these pots? How do you maintain yours? What do you cook in it?