Nabe is comfort food for many Japanese, a proletarian dish that brings people together to share from a bubbling hot pot of goodness. Of late, though, this traditional dish has seen some mutations, such as curry nabe, cheese nabe, tomato nabe and even collagen nabe, all aimed at satisfying the public’s appetite for novelty.

The proliferation of new readymade nabe soup-stock products also gave time-strapped consumers a wider choice of ready-made stock. According to Asahi.com, food companies such as Kagome and Nagatanien have taken their tips for nabe trends from restaurants that push the nabe envelope. For instance, when in 2006, curry nabe appeared on the menu at Denshibou in Sangenjaya, the following year saw instant curry nabe stock, like this curry nabe from House, appear on supermarket shelves.

The collagen nabe boom followed in 2008 and was extremely popular with women looking to take advantage of the reported skin-smoothing benefits of chicken or pork collagen. Next up was tomato nabe in 2009. That year both Kagome and Nagatanien introduced tomato nabe soup stocks that proved hugely popular with children, as the rich red soup stock goes well with either cheese or eggs to produce kid-friendly pizza nabe or omuraisu (rice omelette) nabe concoctions.