It’s exciting to get a brand-new handmade donabe. But before you can start cooking with it, there’s a simple step to take that will help keep your donabe in good shape for the rest of its life. This preparation is called ‘seasoning’ your donabe. In this donabe seasoning guide, we’ll take you through the steps needed to prepare your donabe for everyday use.
Seasoning your donabe usually means cooking a kind of rice porridge in it. The starch from the rice dissolves in the water and coats the sides of your donabe, filling up the microscopic pores with starches. This helps your donabe to become more flexible as the clay expands and contracts with heat, and reduces the chances of cracking.
Donabes for grilling and smoking do not need to be seasoned.