Tonjiru (pork and vegetable miso soup)

Photo: Just One Cookbook

Miso soup for when you're actually hungry. Pork belly, burdock, daikon, taro and tofu in dashi. Namiko's version is the one to learn from.

From Namiko Chen at Just One Cookbook · @justonecookbook

Japan's hearty miso soup: pork belly, burdock, daikon, taro, carrot, konnyaku and tofu simmered in dashi.

You need

• 10 oz thinly sliced pork belly, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 burdock root (gobo), about 3.5 oz
• 3 small taro (satoimo), about 8 oz
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 1/2-inch piece daikon, about 9 oz
• 4-inch piece carrot
• 1/2 block konnyaku, torn into small pieces and rubbed with a pinch of salt
• 1 Tokyo negi (long green onion)
• 1 piece aburaage (fried tofu pouch)
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 7 oz medium-firm tofu, cubed
• 6 cups dashi
• 6 tbsp miso
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 scallion, sliced
• Shichimi togarashi, to serve (optional)

How to make it

1. Scrub the burdock and shave it into thin slivers into a bowl of water. Peel the taro and cut into bite-size pieces. Cut the onion into wedges, the daikon and carrot into thin quarter-moons, and the negi into diagonal slices. Pour boiling water over the aburaage to rinse off oil and slice it.
2. Rinse the salted konnyaku and boil it for 2 minutes to remove the smell. Drain.
3. Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir-fry the pork until it changes color, then add the burdock, carrot, daikon, onion, taro and konnyaku and cook 2 minutes more.
4. Pour in the dashi and bring to a boil. Skim off any scum, add the aburaage, lower the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Add the tofu and negi and warm through. Turn off the heat and dissolve the miso into the soup a little at a time through a strainer or ladle. Don't let it boil again.
6. Stir in the ginger, top with scallion and serve with shichimi if you like heat.

Written in our own words from Namiko Chen's recipe, with their quantities. The original: Tonjiru (pork and vegetable miso soup), Just One Cookbook.

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