← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 700 ml Dashi powder or stock
• 60 ml Sake
• 60 ml Mirin
• 4 tbsp Miso paste
• 500 ml Unsweetened soy milk
• 2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, ground
• 400 g boneless chicken thighs (or thinly sliced pork), cut into large bite-size pieces
• ¼ Napa (Chinese) cabbage, cut into 5 cm pieces, stems and leaves apart
• 1 Carrot, sliced, or cut into flowers
• 200 g Daikon radish, cut into thin half-moons
• 4 Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 200 g enoki and shimeji mushrooms
• 400 g medium-firm tofu, cut into cubes
• 1 Japanese long onion or leek, sliced on the diagonal
• 1 bunch mizuna, shungiku or spinach
• ponzu, to dip (optional)

Method

1. Bring the dashi, sake and mirin to a simmer in a donabe or casserole. Add the daikon, carrot, cabbage stems and chicken and simmer for 8–10 min, skimming, until the chicken is cooked through (75°C / 165°F).
2. Add the tofu, mushrooms, leek and cabbage leaves and simmer for 5 min.
3. Turn the heat to low. Dissolve the miso in a ladle of broth and stir it in, then pour in the soy milk and warm gently for 2–3 min. Do not let it boil or the soy milk will separate and form a skin.
4. Stir in the ground sesame, lay the greens on top for 1 minute, and bring the pot to the table.
5. Serve as it is, or with ponzu for dipping.

Tips

• Use kombu and shiitake dashi and skip the chicken for a vegan pot.
• Ramen or udon noodles cooked in the last of the creamy broth make a perfect finish.

Sources

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

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan