Kenchin-jiru

A clear vegetable soup where the tofu is crushed by hand and fried before any liquid.

Fish, Tofu. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 300 g firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 daikon, in quarter-rounds
• 1 carrot, in quarter-rounds
• 1 burdock root, shaved
• 150 g taro, in chunks
• 100 g konnyaku, torn
• 1.5 litres kombu dashi
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sake
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 2 spring onions, sliced

Method

1. THE TOFU IS CRUSHED BY HAND AND FRIED FIRST. Squeeze it between the palms into rough irregular pieces -- never cut it into cubes -- and fry it in the sesame oil until the edges catch. The torn surfaces take up the broth where a smooth cut face does not, and that is the texture the soup is about.
2. PRESS THE TOFU 20 MINUTES FIRST. Wet tofu will not fry; it steams and falls apart.
3. NO FISH IN IT AT ALL, so the dashi is kombu only. Katsuobushi would make it a different soup, and the restraint is the point: this is built entirely on vegetables, sesame oil and kelp.
4. Sesame oil in the pan, crushed tofu in, 5 minutes over a medium heat without stirring much, until browned in patches. Lift it out.
5. FRY THE ROOTS IN THE SAME OIL BEFORE ANY LIQUID. Burdock first, 3 minutes, then daikon, carrot and taro, 5 minutes. The sesame oil coating them is most of the flavour and boiling raw roots gives a thin, watery soup.
6. Burdock into water the moment it is cut, as on the kinpira page, or it browns.
7. Konnyaku torn rather than cut, and blanched first to take its smell off.
8. Dashi in. Simmer 20 minutes until the roots are tender, skimming.
9. Soy, sake and salt at the end, and lightly -- it should stay pale.
10. Tofu back in for the last 2 minutes. Spring onion in the bowl.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes