I Bought a Japanese ‘Donabe’, and It’s Changed How I Cook, Host, and Style My Kitchen

There's something magical about Japanese ceramics, especially if you've got a taste for interiors that are on the more restrained side, but full of texture, character, and patina. Ever since visiting Tokyo a few years back, I've been filling my kitchen shelves with Japanese (and, it's fair to say, Japanese-inspired) ceramics.

But while my interest in Japanese design has largely been limited to plates, cups, and bowls, I haven't really explored the world of Japanese cookware. Yet, it was a recent restaurant recommendation that actually turned me on to the 'donabe' — a Japanese cooking pot. On London's South Bank, Donabe claims to be London's first Japanese clay pot restaurant, with all its dishes cooked and served at the table in small donabe pots. The food looks incredible, but there's also something incredibly charming about serving it up in this way that I could imagine translating to entertaining at home, too. Looking online for where to source one, too, I found they can be incredibly beautiful, also.

So I bought a couple. And yes, I found lots of places to buy donabe in the UK (Made in Japan is one of my favorite places to buy Japanese ceramics, in case you're interested), but I ended up opting for this design from a seller on Amazon, which better suited my own design sensibilities.

But, of course, it's not just about what the donabe looks like or how you might cook in it, but what it represents, too. So, in the spirit of cultural appreciation, I wanted to find out a little more about this traditional clay pot and what it really means in Japan, too.

To better understand, I spoke to Naoko Takei Moore, who is not only the author of cookbooks including Donabe and Simply Donabe, but is also the founder of TOIRO, a cookware brand that launched in 2007 with the goal of introducing the donabe to the US.

Clay pots are less common in Western cooking, Naoko explains, but in shape, it's very similar to your standard casserole. However, it's the material choice that changes how you cook in it. "Japanese donabe earthenware tends to have extra durability and heat retention ability due to its porous clay body, compared to Western ceramic cooking pots," Naoko says.

The way it transfers and retains heat is much slower and gentler than other ceramic pots, or something like a cast iron pot (like a Le Creuset, for example). This makes it great for cooking things like rice, grains, vegetables, chicken, and fish, trapping moisture inside. However, it makes it less successful for things like browning and caramelizing, which rely on those direct, hotter temperatures.

Yet, the donabe is not just about what you cook, but how you serve. "Japanese donabe is often meant not just for cooking but serving right at the table. It’s typically meant for a one-pot dish," Naoko adds.

Naoko Takei Moore

Naoko Takei Moore is a Japanese-born, Los Angeles-based donabe expert, author and founder of TOIRO, a specialist retailer dedicated to Japanese donabe cooking. She is widely recognised for introducing traditional donabe cooking to a Western audience, and has written Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking.

"[Donabe] also symbolizes Japanese communal dining culture," Naoko adds. "It’s about the process of building a dish in a donabe, especially when it’s cooked at a table over a tabletop burner, and sharing food right out of [it]."

"When sharing a donabe dish at a table, it naturally creates bonding among people who share the dish," the author adds. "We have a Japanese saying, Nabe wo Kakomu, or “surrounding a pot”, which means sharing a dish from the same pot. This is really the spirit of donabe lifestyle, and it also implies the intimacy and harmony among people."

It doesn't hurt, either, that donabe tend to have a beautiful Japanese aesthetic sensibility to them, too, especially when you're buying from small artisanal makers with more imperfect, wabi sabi finishes. "The variation can be really wide, and it also depends on the region and individual artisans," Naoko explains. "Artisan kinds can look more rustic and intentionally uneven, and that’s what we cherish."

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I've only just put away my last Japanese cooking investment for the summer — a Japanese grill that I cook with instead of a BBQ.

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