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Curry Nabe
Curry Nabe
Curry Nabe

Donabe for Curry

Curry Nabe

ZN-52

Regular price $ 250.00 Sale

The Donabe for Curry Lovers

This donabe is originally designed for curry lovers, as curry is one of the most popular home dishes in Japan. Curry Nabe is a cute sister donabe of Miso-shiru Nabe, with a curry-friendly deeper body and design. With aromatic curry made in Curry Nabe and freshly made rice made in donabe rice cooker, Kamado-san, your simple curry & rice can become so special!

Curry Nabe is also Good for Soup, Stew, and Roasting

Just like Miso-shiru Nabe, Curry Nabe is also ideal for everyday soup and stew cooking. With the extra-thick body, Curry Nabe is great at slow cooking dishes such as stew, braising meat, or even oven-baked beans. This donabe can be heated without liquid inside, so you can sauté or roast ingredients in it, too. The gentle and steady heat distribution of Curry Nabe can help the ingredients to slowly develop savory (umami) flavors without the ingredients falling apart.

Curry Nabe builds the Heat and Stays Hot for a Long Time

Its extra-thick body gives Curry Nabe the incredibly high level of heat retention ability. The food inside of the donabe continues to cook for a while after turning off the heat, and stays hot for a long time. You can bring hot Curry Nabe to the table, and even after 15 minutes, you can enjoy the hot serving of curry, soup or stew.

True “Terroir” of Iga

Iga region, where this donabe is made, used to be the bed of Lake Biwa about 4 million years ago. The clay from this region is naturally highly heat-resistant and has been used for open-flame cooking for many hundreds of years. This clay consists of a high level of pre-historic fossilized microorganisms that leave the clay porous when fired. The porous body gives the donabe remarkable heat-retention ability. The donabe gradually builds the heat when it’s heated, then it cools down very slowly after the heat is turned off. This, along with the glaze that promotes the far infrared rays (FIR – the same effect as how the glowing charcoal cook ingredients without direct flame) when it’s heated, allow the donabe to produce a gentle, steady heat that penetrates to the core of each ingredient. The effect is ingredients are cooked evenly with all the flavors sealed inside.

Authentic Iga-yaki pottery by Nagatani-en

Iga-yaki (Iga-style) pottery is one of Japan’s most highly-regarded traditional ceramics and is said to have originated in Iga, Mie-Prefecture in the late 7th Century. This donabe is made by Nagatani-en, a leading producer of authentic Iga-yaki pottery since 1832. At Nagatani-en, each donabe is made by hand with care and it takes about 2 weeks to produce an individual donabe. Nagatani-en’s Iga-yaki products have been loved by both professionals and home cooks in Japan.

Your donabe develops its character as it ages

As you use your donabe over and over, it develops character and that’s something to be welcomed.

  • The very thin cracks could appear on the surface (glaze) of the donabe. It’s called “kannyu” in Japanese and the cracks run like veins. They are the naturally developed cracks on the glaze and won’t affect the function of the donabe.
  • Once you start using the donabe, the bottom part starts to change its color and black spots (like burned spots) could appear. It’s also the part of developing the character and the donabe is safe to use. However, if the bottom part seems to get too black too quickly, the heat you use might be too high. In this case, we suggest that you use the donabe over lower heat level.

All the donabe and Iga-yaki products made by Nagatani-en are hand-crafted with care, so every piece is unique and no two pieces are identical. There are slight variations within the color/ shade, shape/ curve, and patterns, among pieces, and that makes each piece so special. Also under different lighting and angle, the actual color shade and nuance may also appear slightly different from the photos in the product page.


Ideal for 3 – 4 servings
  • Size: 8.5” diameter x 7” high (21 cm diameter x 17 cm high) – including lid
  • Capacity: 1.5 qt (1500 ml)
  • Weight: 6.6 lbs (3 kg) – not including the trivet

    Material: Clay
    Producer: Nagatani-en
    Origin: Iga, Japan
    Included in the package: Donabe (bowl and lid), and English instruction sheet.

    Usage and Care

    • Ideal for gas stove top use. This donabe is not suitable for electric or induction cooktop.
    • This donabe can be heated while it’s empty.
    • Oven-safe (up to 500℉/ 250℃). This donabe is not suitable for microwave.
    • Hand wash only.
    • Before the first use, this donabe must be seasoned (How to Season Donabe).

    Domestic Orders

    • Usually ships out in-stock items within 3 business days of order.
    • We use FedEx, USPS Priority Mail, or USPS First Class Mail to ship our products, depending on the size and weight of the package.
    • Read about the shipping information and terms in our Customer Service Page.
    • Free shipping with purchase of $375 or more! (Within Continental US only. Total purchase amount to qualify excludes free shipping offer items.)

    International Orders

    • Usually ship out in-stock within 5 business days of order.
    • We use USPS Priority Mail International for international shipping.
    • We do not accept any returns for international orders. Any additional charges (including but not limited to import tax, custom fees, VAT, brokerage charge) that might incur after the order lands in the destination country must be borne by the recipient.
    • Read about the shipping information and terms in our Customer Service Page.