Motsunabe: Fukuoka's Beef and Pork Offal Hotpot

Motsunabe is a hotpot built around motsu — beef or pork offal, typically intestine — simmered with garlic chives (nira) and cabbage in a soy or miso-based broth. It became popular in Fukuoka in the years after World War II as an affordable, protein-and-collagen-rich meal at a time when other cuts of meat were scarce and expensive, and it has stayed a defining local dish since.

Motsunabe is cooked at the table in a shared pot, with vegetables and offal added gradually as it simmers, making it naturally a social, slow-paced meal rather than something eaten quickly alone. Once the main ingredients are finished, it's standard to close the meal with shime — adding champon-style noodles or rice to the remaining broth so nothing goes to waste. It pairs well with local sake or shochu.