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Kenchin jiru is a traditional Japanese vegetable soup made with root vegetables, tofu, and savory broth for a warm, nourishing meal. This recipe usually starts by sautéing ingredients such as daikon, carrot, burdock root, konjac, mushrooms, taro, and tofu in a little sesame oil to build aroma before simmering them in dashi or a plant-based broth. Soy sauce and salt season the soup gently, allowing the natural sweetness of the vegetables and the softness of the tofu to stand out. As the vegetables cook, the broth becomes earthy, clean, and deeply comforting without feeling heavy. The final kenchin jiru is often finished with green onion or shichimi, making it a simple Japanese soup that works well with rice, pickles, grilled fish, or other home-style dishes for lunch or dinner.
Transcript
00:00Hey everyone, I'm Yuto from Statue and today I'm going to show you how to make a traditional Japanese plant
00:05-based soup called Kenshin-Jiru.
00:07Let's get started.
00:09We're going to start by making a vegan dashi with two dry-shirt mushrooms, a couple of pieces of kombu
00:16and 500ml of cold water.
00:19This dashi will add depth and umami to the soup, so cover with a droplet to weigh the mushrooms down
00:27and soak for at least 30 minutes.
00:30After about 30 minutes, the dashi ingredients should be rehydrated.
00:35So take the shitake mushrooms out and place them on a chopping board.
00:40Trim the stalks off and then thinly slice them.
00:44We'll add this to the soup later.
00:47Next, we're going to heat up the dashi and kombu.
00:50Place it on the stove over medium heat and when it's almost bubbling, remove the kombu.
00:55You can throw it away or if you want to repurpose it, check out my kombu onigiri rice filling recipe.
01:01Take the pot off, the heat and set your dashi aside for later.
01:07Next, we're going to fry the vegetables off a bit.
01:10So heat a new pot on medium and add the drizzle of sesame oil.
01:14Amusing 75g carrot, 250g daikon radish, 150g konnyaku, 50g shimeji mushrooms, 100g enoki mushrooms, 20g twice fried tofu, and 100g
01:33burdock root which I peeled and soaked in water beforehand.
01:39Just mix those around and fry for a few minutes.
01:42Feel free to substitute some of the more usual ingredients for local ones.
01:47Some great substitutions include other root vegetables like potato, squash and turnip, as well as stuff like spinach.
01:55Most kinds of mushrooms and onions.
01:59You can also add tofu if you like.
02:02I've really packed this soup with a lot of vegetables but of course you can use less if you prefer.
02:09Ok, everything has softened a little so now we're going to add the dashi from earlier.
02:16Again, bring to almost boiling and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
02:20We're just going to cook that gently until the carrot and daikon are soft enough to piece with a fork.
02:27Stay occasionally to ensure even cooking.
02:31Oh, and don't be like me and forget to add the dehydrated shiitake mushrooms from earlier.
02:36Usually I would add these at the same time as the other vegetables but they don't need much cooking so
02:43it's ok if you add them a bit late.
02:47Ok, so this is looking great.
02:49Now we're just going to lightly season the broth with 2 tablespoons of sake, 2 tablespoons of mirin and 3
02:58tablespoons of soy sauce.
03:01Give it a little mix and continue to simmer for about 2 minutes.
03:09Finally, add thinly slice Japanese leek and simmer for another 5 minutes or until slightly softened.
03:18At this point you can give the soup a taste and add more soy sauce if you like.
03:24Once 5 minutes are up, take the pot off the heat and serve with a sprinkle of chopped green onion.
03:33And there you have it, a delicious traditional Japanese vegetable soup suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
03:41Thanks so much for watching.
03:42If you want to read more about this dish and its history, check out the written version on my blog.
03:47The link is in the description and on the screen now.
03:51Thanks again, hope to see you next time.
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