← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 750 ml Dashi powder or stock
• 2 tsp light (usukuchi) or regular soy sauce
• ½ tsp Salt
• 170 g boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cut into small pieces
• ¼ Carrot, cut into thin strips
• 2 Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 300 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice (cold leftovers are ideal)
• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Spring onion, finely sliced
• 1 pinch White pepper (optional)

Method

1. Put the cooked rice in a sieve and rinse it under cold water, breaking up the clumps, so the soup stays clear instead of gluey. Drain.
2. Bring the dashi, soy sauce and salt to a simmer in a pot. Add the chicken, carrot and shiitake and simmer gently for 6–8 min, skimming off any foam, until the chicken is cooked through (75°C / 165°F).
3. Stir in the rice and simmer for 3–4 min, until it has warmed through and soaked up some of the broth. Taste and add more salt if needed.
4. Drizzle the beaten egg over the surface in a thin, circular stream. Put the lid on, turn off the heat and leave for 1 minute, until the egg is just set.
5. Scatter with spring onion and a little white pepper and serve straight away.

Tips

• Zosui is the classic way to finish a hot pot: cook the rice in the leftover broth at the table.
• For vegetarian zosui, skip the chicken and use kombu and shiitake dashi.

Sources

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

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan Japanese Cooking 101