Sumashijiru (Japanese Traditional Clear Soup)
Sumashijiru is a fundamental soup dish in Japanese cuisine. Despite its clear appearance, it allows you to fully appreciate the essence of dashi broth.
Ingredients
- 6 slices kamaboko (fish cake)
- 1 shiitake mushroom
- 8 mitsuba (Japanese parsley)
Awase Dashi:
- 2 cups (480ml) water
- 0.17 oz. (5g) kombu (dried kelp)
- ½ cup (0.17oz./5g) bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
Seasonings:
- 1 Tbsp sake
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp light soy sauce (regular soy sauce can be substituted)
Instructions
- Put water and kombu in a pot and let it sit for at least 30 minutes until the kombu softens.
- Heat the pot over very low heat for about 10 minutes (for 2 servings). When small bubbles appear on the surface of the liquid, remove the kombu.
- Increase the heat and bring the water (kombu dashi) to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, add the bonito flakes, and let it simmer for 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and strain the mixture through a sieve lined with paper towels or cloth (such as cheesecloth). Awase dashi, which combines kombu dashi and bonito dashi, is ready.
- Cut the kamaboko into 0.2 inch (5mm) slices. Remove the stem from the shiitake mushroom and slice the cap into 6 pieces. For the mitsuba, remove the leaves from the stems.
- Put the dashi, kamaboko, shiitake mushrooms, and the seasonings (sake, salt, and light soy sauce) in a pot, and simmer until the ingredients are cooked.
- Serve in each bowl and top with the mitsuba leaves.
Notes
- If you already have awase dashi or another type of dashi, start from step 5. In this case, use 1 ⅔ cups (400ml) of your dashi for 2 servings.
- You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
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