Shabu-shabu is one of Japan’s most amusing ways to eat. A pot of boiling water sits atop a burner in the center of your table, and to it you add vegetables and – usually – thin slices of beef that cook in seconds. “Shabu-shabu” is the Japanese onomatopoeia for the swish-swish sound you make as your chopsticks swirl the beef through the water.
The twist in Kagoshima, the southernmost region of Japan’s main islands, is using thinly sliced pork instead of beef, kurobuta (black pork) to be exact, and fancy Ajimori is the place that started it all.