← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 200 g thinly sliced pork belly, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 150 g Daikon radish, peeled, quartered lengthways and sliced 5 mm thick
• 1 Carrot, halved and sliced 5 mm thick
• 1 potato (or 2 small taro), cut into 2 cm cubes
• ½ Onion, sliced
• 120 g Konnyaku (konjac block), torn into bite-sized pieces and parboiled 2 min (optional)
• 1 tbsp Toasted sesame oil
• 1 l Dashi powder or stock
• 150 g medium-firm tofu, cut into cubes
• 5 tbsp miso paste (to taste)
• 1 tsp Ginger, grated (optional)
• 2 Spring onion, finely sliced
• shichimi togarashi, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the pork and stir-fry for 2 min until it is no longer pink.
2. Add the daikon, carrot, potato, onion and konnyaku and stir for 2 min to coat them in the pork fat.
3. Pour in the dashi and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam, then lower to a simmer and cook, partly covered, for 12–15 min until the root vegetables are tender.
4. Add the tofu and heat for 2 min. Turn the heat to low, dissolve the miso into the soup a ladleful at a time through a small sieve or ladle, then taste and add more if you like. Do not let it boil again.
5. Stir in the ginger, then serve topped with spring onion and a pinch of shichimi.

Tips

• Burdock root (gobo), shiitake or fried tofu are classic additions. Dashi contains fish.
• Miso and dashi vary in saltiness, so add the miso gradually and taste.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan Chopstick Chronicles