Otakus Kitchen: The Winter Months

Tonjiru

Tonjiru or Butajiru - both literally mean pig/pork soup. It's a Japanese soup made with pork and vegetables, flavoured with miso. Compared to normal miso soup, tonjiru tend to be more substantial, with a larger quantity and variety of ingredients added to the soup.
If you ask me what is my favorite miso soup, I would immediately say Tonjiru (豚汁). This Pork and Vegetable Miso Soup is one of the true comfort foods that I crave when I travel. There’s nothing more soothing than a simple meal of onigiri and tonjiru.

NOTE ... THERE IS NOTHING SIMPLE ABOUT COOKING THIS MEAL, ITS VERY COMPLEX

YOU'LL NEED:

10 oz sliced pork belly (272 g; Use at least ½ lb or 227 g of pork belly; for vegan, you can skip)

4 oz gobo (burdock root) (½ length, 100 g)

8 oz Taro (Satoimo) (3 pieces, 227 g)

1 onion (6 oz, 170 g)

9 oz daikon radish (2 inches, 247 g)

4 oz carrot (4 inches, 123 g)

½ block konnyaku (konjac) (4.5 oz, 128 g)

¼ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt) (for cleaning Konnyaku)

1 Negi (long green onion)

1 piece aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)

1 knob ginger (Need 1 tsp grated)

7 oz medium-firm tofu (½ of one package; cut into ½" cubes)

For Making Soup

1 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)

6 cups dashi (click to learn more about this soup stock) (1440 ml; for vegan, use Kombu Dashi)

6 Tbsp miso (Each miso brands/types taste differently, so please adjust the amount according to your miso)

For Garnish

1 green onion/scallion

Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (If you like to make it a bit spicy)

TO MAKE:

It's easier to cut pork belly if it's slightly frozen, so put it in the freezer for 15 minutes before you cut. Meanwhile, gather all the ingredients.

To Prepare Ingredients

Take out the pork from the freezer and cut it into 1-inch pieces.

Scrape the gobo skin with the back of your knife. The flavor of the gobo is right underneath the skin; therefore, you only need to scrape off the outer skin. Do not use a peeler.

Sponsored by Advertising Partner

Sponsored Video

Watch to learn more

From the end of gobo, make a cross incision about 1 inch deep. This helps "sharpening" the gobo easier. Rotate as you shave the end of the gobo, like how you sharpen a pencil with a knife. Soak the shaved gobo in water to prevent discoloring.

Discard the dirty water and rinse gobo with running water

Cut off both ends of taro and peel the sides with the knife (or peeler).

Cut the taro into ⅓ inch slices and soak in water to remove the sliminess.

Cut the onion in half lengthwise and cut into thin slices.

Peel and cut the daikon half lengthwise.

Cut in half again (now they are quarters) and cut into ⅛ inch slices. If you have skinnier daikon, cut into thin half-moon-shaped slices.