i. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from the center of the kabocha.

ii. Lay your squash on a stable cutting board and use a sharp knife to shave off the tough green skin in downward strokes.

iii. Once peeled, chop the flesh into large, irregular chunks.

i. Preheat the oven to 180℃ (356°F). Toss bread cubes with olive oil, salt, dried herb mix, and melted butter. Fold in thin ribbons of tender kabocha peel.

ii. Spread in a single layer and bake on an upper rack for 10 minutes until golden and crisp.

i. While we wait for the oven, melt unsalted butter over medium-low heat. Add the thinly sliced onion and salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion turns translucent and sweet but not browned. Stop just before golden.

ii. Stir in the kabocha chunks with another pinch of salt. Toss for 1-2 minutes to coat in butter and start softening the surface. Seasoning now helps the squash absorb salt evenly later and prevents flat tasting purée.

iii. When the edges start to break, add water.

iv. Cover and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes until the pumpkin crushes easily with a spoon. Keep the bubbling gentle to preserve color and a fresh, sweet aroma.

v. If liquid reduces too fast, add a splash of hot water to maintain a shallow “just-covered” level.

i. Take the pot off heat and blend with a blender (or immersion blender), starting low and moving to high, sweeping the head across the pot to catch fibers.

ii. When smooth, add cold unsalted butter and blend 20-30 seconds more to micro-emulsify for gloss and body.

i. If you want the kind of texture that makes guests ask “Did you really make this at home?”, pour your blended soup through a fine-mesh strainer or chinois into a clean pot.

ii. Use the back of a ladle or spoon to press the puree through, leaving behind any lingering fibers or skin fragments. Yes, it’s an extra dish to wash, but the payoff is soup so smooth it coats a spoon in a glossy, unbroken ribbon.

i. Return the soup to a clean pot and stir in heavy cream and milk (you can use half and half if it’s available). Warm gently over low heat until steamy and slightly thickened, but do not boil.

ii. Add another pinch of salt and a sprinkle nutmeg. Set the heat to low and let the soup barely simmer, about 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming.

Once dairy enters the pot, high heat is your enemy. Boiling causes the milk proteins to curdle and the cream to separate into greasy puddles. Keep it at a lazy simmer.

iii. Turn off the heat and dissolve white miso. Make sure to taste test at this point!

i. Ladle the hot soup into warmed bowls. Crack white pepper over the surface, scatter a handful of those kabocha-skin croutons on top, and finish with a pinch of chopped fresh parsley for a pop of green against the orange.

Heat up a medium-sized pot on medium and add some oil. Once it’s hot, add the pork belly and sprinkle with salt.

Cook it until the meat starts to brown and release its fat. This initial browning is what will create a foundation of flavor for the soup.

Throw in all the vegetables except for the konnyaku and aburaage, along with another dash of salt. Give it a stir-fry for about 2 minutes, making sure the vegetables are all coated in that tasty pork fat.

Pour in the dashi stock and bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cook for 7 minutes.

Now, add the washed konnyaku and aburaage to the pot. Turn the heat down low and let it simmer for about 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat. Use a miso strainer (or a fine-mesh strainer) to gradually dissolve the sake lees and miso into the soup. This will help you avoid lumps and get a nice, smooth consistency.

Add the light soy sauce and stir gently to combine. Taste it and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Ladle the hot soup into individual bowls and top with freshly chopped green onions.

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i. Pour the dashi, prepared vegetables, and glass noodles into a medium pot and bring it just to a boil over medium-high heat, then drop to a gentle simmer-about 85-96℃ (185-205°F).

i. While the soup base heats, combine all the meatball ingredients in a medium bowl. Use a spoon or your clean hands to gently fold everything together until just combined. You’re aiming for a cohesive mixture, not an overworked paste.

ii. Maintain that simmer (just a few lazy bubbles should pop at the surface) and slide in the meatballs one by one. Use two tablespoons (one to scoop, one to nudge) to form the meat mixture into roughly one-inch balls, then carefully lower each one into the simmering broth.

Work quickly but don’t rush. Dropping them from too high can splash hot liquid or cause the meatballs to break apart on impact.

iii. Cover and simmer gently until the meatballs are opaque and springy, about 5-7 minutes.

i. Turn off the heat and dissolve the miso using a mesh strainer or a ladle, pressing until no lumps remain. Keep it below a boil to preserve aroma and complexity.

I used a 50/50 blend of red and white miso, sometimes labeled “yellow miso” in English.

i. Ladle the soup into warm bowls, making sure each bowl gets a fair share of meatballs, vegetables, and noodles. Finish with chopped green onion, a light drizzle of toasted sesame oil, and a twist of black pepper; serve steaming hot.

Cut the carrots and potatoes into bite-sized chunks.

Give the potatoes a five-minute soak in cold water to get rid of any excess starch.

While you’re waiting for the potatoes, heat a small pot of water. Once boiling, blanch the snowpeas for 1 minute, then drain and set aside for later. You can cut them in half once they’re cool enough to touch, then use them as a garnish at the end.

If you’re looking for a quicker option, you can just add the raw snow peas directly to the dashi (soup) with the other vegetables. While blanching makes for a nicer presentation and texture, both methods work perfectly well.

Once soaked, put the drained potatoes and carrots in a microwave-safe bowl with a tablespoon of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high (600W) for about three minutes to partially cook them.

This step is to speed up the cooking process and save time. If you don’t have a microwave, you can parboil the vegetables in a pot of boiling water or use a steamer to steam them instead.

Tip: I don’t recommend boiling the potatoes directly in the dashi as this can make your soup cloudy and starchy.

In a large pot, mix together the dashi stock, the parboiled carrots and potatoes, and the mushrooms.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the vegetables are softened to your liking.

While the broth is warming up, heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sprinkle both sides of the salmon fillets with a little salt and fry them until they’re nicely browned on both sides, which should take about 3 minutes per side.

Once cooked, take them off the heat. Ideally, try and time this so that the salmon is ready at the same time as the soup.

Once you’re happy with the vegetables, turn off the heat and mix in your miso paste.

Split the soup between the serving bowls. Now, add the seared salmon fillets and blanched snow peas. Top each bowl with a small slice of butter and a dash of freshly ground black pepper.

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Mix water with fine sea salt in a large bowl. Rinse the clams under cool running water, scrubbing gently if needed. Place the clams in the saltwater mixture. Let them soak for 1 hour, allowing them to “breathe out” any sand.

In a separate bowl, combine water and a piece of kombu (dried kelp). Allow this mixture to sit alongside the clams, infusing the water with a rich, savory flavor. If you don’t have kombu in your pantry, you can skip this step and use plain water instead.

After 1 hour, give the clams a final rinse under cool water. Place them in a large pot. Add a generous splash of sake to the pot. Heat over medium until you see the first wisps of steam, then reduce to low.

Cover and let the clams steam for 5 minutes or until they pop open.

Remove the opened clams from the pot, but let their flavorful juice stay behind. Pour your kombu stock into the pot with the clam juice. Heat this umami-rich mixture over low-medium heat. Just before it reaches a boil, fish out the kombu.

Add the clams to the broth, simmering for a quick 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat, then gently stir in the miso paste until it’s well combined.

Ladle miso soup into bowls, making sure each serving gets a fair share of clams. Crown each bowl with a sprinkle of freshly chopped green onions.

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All vegetables should be cut into fairly thin strips. This will allow them to cook quickly.

First, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrots, radishes, and snow peas and blanch them for 30 seconds.

Drain the vegetables in a colander and transfer them to a bowl of cold water.

While the vegetables cool, rinse out the pot, pour in the dashi broth and bring it to a boil. Then, simmer it for one minute with pork, mirin, and light soy sauce.

After this initial simmer, I add the blanched vegetables and shiitake mushrooms to the pot and simmer everything together for about 3 minutes, or until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are softened to your liking. The vegetables in Sawaniwan should still have some bite.

Then taste it and if you think it needs a little more saltiness, adjust it by adding a little bit of salt.

Finally, I divide the soup and vegetables evenly into serving bowls.

A sprinkle of black pepper over each serving adds a subtle, spicy kick that perfectly complements the mild flavors of the broth and vegetables.

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Let’s do some prep work before we get to the fun part of cooking.

Torijiru uses a variety of vegetables, so chopping them up first will make things go smoother. Here’s how I prepared each one:

• Burdock Root and Japanese Leeks: Wash the leek and scrub the burdock root to clean off any dirt. Cut diagonal slices.
• Carrot: Slice them about 1 cm thick, and then cut those slices into half-moons.
• Daikon Radish: Go a bit thicker here, about 2 cm, and also cut into half-moons or quarters.
• Onion: Thinly sliced.
• Garlic & Ginger: Mince these finely. They’re going to add a lovely aroma to the dish.
• Enoki Mushrooms: Just remove the roots and bottom of the stems.

Now, let’s tackle the chicken.

If you’re using chicken thighs, the easiest way to peel off the skin is by hand; no knife required. For the meat, cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Next, let’s render some chicken fat. Add oil to the pot and cook the chicken skin over low or medium-low heat until it’s crispy on both sides.

This chicken oil is the secret to the depth of flavor in this dish. Once it’s crispy, remove the skin and place it on kitchen paper.

Leave it to cool for a few minutes and then cut into thin strips. This will be used as a garnish at the end.

In the same pot with rich chicken fat, cook the chicken meat until sealed on all sides.

After that, add the garlic, ginger, onion, and salt. Continue frying until the onion is soft. This step really starts to build the flavors.

Once the onions are soft, add the root vegetables (carrots, radish, and burdock root) and stir-fry them for a couple of minutes.

Next, add the enoki mushrooms, leeks, dashi, and sake. Heat it over medium heat until it’s just about to boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.

Cover the pot and let it cook until the daikon and carrots are tender to your liking. In my experience, this takes about 10 minutes.

At this point, you should already be able to see how rich this soup is- creamy and a little cloudy!

As soon as the carrots and radishes are slightly softened, turn off the heat. Stir in the miso paste and soy sauce, which brings the whole dish together.

To serve, ladle the Torijiru into bowls.

Top it with finely chopped green onions and the crispy chicken skin that we cooked earlier. It’s the perfect crunchy finishing touch to this hearty soup.

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First, let’s make our soup base. Grab a saucepan and add dashi, sake, and shiitake mushrooms. Turn the heat to medium and let it heat up until it’s just about to boil.

This is the perfect way to gently cook the shiitake mushrooms. Once it’s on the verge of boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook the shiitake for 3 minutes before turning off the heat.

Now, stir in light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and salt.

Before we pour the soup, let’s prepare our bowls. Place the shiitake mushrooms, slices of kamaboko fish cake, and fu in the bowl. I like to arrange them neatly beforehand for a nice presentation.

Finally, carefully pour the hot soup into the bowl. To finish, sprinkle mitsuba and thinly sliced yuzu peel on top. These add a fresh, zesty aroma to the dish.

Enjoy as a side soup with a variety of Japanese dishes!

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Start by sprinkling a bit of salt over the chicken pieces, ensuring they’re bite-sized for even cooking.

Heat them in a frying pan, turning until golden brown and cooked through. Once done, remove from the heat and set aside.

While the chicken cooks, wash and chop the komatsuna into 4 cm (about 1.5 inches) lengths. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the greens.

Let them boil for 30 seconds, then drain and cool in cold water. Squeeze out the excess liquid once cool. This method keeps the komatsuna crisp and vibrant.

Next, add dashi stock, mirin, and rice cakes to the pot, simmering over medium-low heat until the rice cakes are tender on the outside. This slow simmer allows the flavors to blend and deepen.

If using a small pot, cook the mochi in batches and place the cooked ones in the serving bowls. Stacking them can cause them to become stuck together or misshapen, so avoid stacking. Cook 1 kirimochi per person.

When the rice cakes are soft, stir in soy sauce and add the cooked chicken. Let everything simmer for about one minute to allow the flavors to meld together.

Finally, ladle the soup into bowls. Top with bonito flakes, the prepared komatsuna, and slices of kamaboko. This combination of toppings adds a nice complexity to each bite.

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