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Tonjiru (pork and root vegetable miso soup)
豚汁 · Hearty miso soup with pork belly, daikon, burdock and tofu
Tonjiru is the big-pot miso soup that gets ladled out at Japanese school festivals, winter fire drills and New Year shrine visits, and at home it is filling enough to make a meal with just rice. Thin slices of pork belly are fried in sesame oil with daikon, carrot, burdock, potato and konnyaku, then simmered in dashi until tender and finished with miso. The common mistake is boiling the soup after the miso goes in, which dulls its aroma; stir it in off the boil. Simmer until the pork is cooked through (71 °C) and the vegetables are soft. Chef's tip: dissolve the miso in a ladle of hot broth first so it melts in smoothly without lumps.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 7 oz thinly sliced pork bellyin 3 cm pieces
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 7 oz daikonpeeled, in thin quarter-moons
- 1 carrotin thin half-moons
- ½ burdock root (gobo)scrubbed, shaved into thin slivers and soaked in water
- 1 potato or taroin bite-size chunks
- 3 ½ oz konnyakutorn into small pieces and blanched
- 1 litre dashi
- 5 ½ oz firm tofuin cubes
- 4 tbsp miso
- 2 spring onionssliced
- 1 pinch shichimi togarashi (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil in a large pot over a medium heat and fry 7 oz thinly sliced pork belly until no longer pink on the outside.
3 minStep 2: Add 7 oz daikon, 1 carrot, drained ½ burdock root (gobo), 1 potato or taro and 3 ½ oz konnyaku and stir-fry for 2 minutes until coated in fat.
2 minStep 3: Pour in 1 litre dashi, bring to the boil and skim off the foam. Simmer gently, partly covered, until the vegetables are tender and the pork is cooked through.
15 minStep 4: Add 5 ½ oz firm tofu and heat through for 2 minutes.
2 minStep 5: Turn the heat to low. Mix 4 tbsp miso with a ladle of broth until smooth, then stir it into the pot. Heat until just below a simmer; don't let it boil.
1 minStep 6: Ladle into bowls and top with 2 spring onions and 1 pinch shichimi togarashi.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tonjiru (pork and root vegetable miso soup) take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of toasted sesame oil?
- Toasted sesame seeds ground with a little vegetable oil.
- What can I use instead of carrot?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
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