Tonjiru (Japanese Pork & Vegetable Miso Soup)
Tonjiru (豚汁) is Japanese pork soup with vegetables and miso. This is often served with steamed or multigrain rice. This soup is also popularly served at Tonkatsu restaurants. Due to the slow simmering of the pork, there is a depth of flavour to the soup that is full of umami deliciousness.
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A bowl of tonjiru also makes a perfect low-carb dish, as it is filling on its own due to all the many goodies (pork, daikon, carrot, mushrooms) and the sliced konnyaku (konjac; which has almost zero calories).
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Tonjiru Recipe
Toggle through the gallery above to see how the ingredients are sliced.
Typically, tonjiru can also include tofu (cubed), bordock root (sliced thinly) and baby taro (sliced thinly). Add them in the last 5 minutes (for tofu) and last 20 minutes (for the other two), if using. You may also replace shiitake with other types of mushrooms, e.g. shimeji
Ingredients:
- 500 grams pork belly with some fat cut to bite-sized chunks
- 1/2 onion sliced thinly
- 3 slices ginger
- 1.5 litres water top up whenever needed
- 2 tbsp sake optional
- 1/2 tbsp dashi powder
- 50 grams daikon sliced thinly
- 50 grams carrot sliced thinly
- 75 grams konnyaku (konjac) sliced to thin squares; par-boil for 10 minutes if sensitive to the smell
- 8 shiitake (plus stems) mushrooms sliced thinly
- miso solution dissolve 1 tbsp miso (to taste) in 200 ml hot water
- 1 stalk negi (Japanese scallion) sliced thinly
Directions:
- In a wok pan, add sliced pork belly one layer. Brown pork belly on both sides, then push them to one side of the pan. Using the oil rendered by the pork, stir fry onions and ginger, until the former is softened.
- Add water, sake and dashi. Simmer the contents (lid partially covered) until the pork is tender, about 1 hour (may take longer if your pork belly is sliced more thickly).
- Add daikon, carrot, konjac and shiitake mushrooms. Simmer for another 20 minutes. Top up more water whenever needed.
- Turn off the stove and stir in miso solution and scallions, while the soup is hot. Season the soup to taste with dashi or salt, if needed. Serve with multigrain rice.