Oh I feel the cosmos alright.

So I’ve been down with the mononucleosis for the past week, and let me tell you, fair internet, it sure does suck. Thankfully though, I had a brand new copy of Muramasa: The Demon Blade to keep me company.

30 hours of company.

The thing is that Vanillaware seems to have this weird obsession with cooking. It’s featured in the PS2 JRPG Odin Sphere, and again in a similar role in Muramasa. Eating food results in “spirit” which is used with souls collected during battle to forge increasingly powerful swords. 

And while I don’t have access to a ghostly swordsmith doomed to forge blades in the fires of hell for all eternity, I sure could use a little spirit in dealing with this cold.



Enter Nabe, or Nabemono, a style of one pot cooking where ingredients are simmered together in a large earthenware pot. Or, you know, whatever kind of pot you happen to have.

There’s an infinite number of variations, but honestly, most of the recipes basically come down to “boil some broth and then stick a bunch of stuff in it.” 

The broth is usually Dashi, while the stuff is entirely up to you. Here’s a video for Mizore Nabe from Cooking With Dog which includes a basic Dashi recipe, along with the general procedure. 

Up there I had some seared tofu, aburage, daikon radish half moons, lotus root slices, shirataki noodles, mushrooms, green onions, and napa cabbage, with a very large glass of Sapporo and a hot glass of Sake on the side.