Japanese Vegetable Soup With Chicken (kenchin-jiru)

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 ounces burdock root (gobo)
• 2 cups cold water
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 medium potato, pared
• 4 ounces daikon radishes, pared
• 1 large carrot, pared
• 2 -3 large green onions
• 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 10 ounces tofu
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 4 ounces ground chicken
• 5 cups dashi
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• shichimi togarashi (seven-spice powder) or sansho, powder

Recipe

• 1 scrape burdock root with the back of a knife to remove all skin. shave root diagonally into narrow, thin shavings, about 1 inch long. place shavings in a mixture of 1 cup of cold water and he vinegar. soak 3-4 minutes; rinse under cold running water and drain.
• 2 cut potato lengthwise into quarters; cut quarters crosswise into thin slices. place in remaining cup of cold water; soak five minutes. drain.
• 3 cut daikon and carrot lengthwise into quarters; cut quarters crosswise into thin slices. cut green onions crosswise into 1/2 inch lengths. remove and discard mushroom stems. cut caps into halves; cut halves crosswise into thin slices.
• 4 place tofu in strainer; using fork, break tofu into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. rinse and drain.
• 5 heat the oils in a 3-quart saucepan over high heat 1 minute; add chicken and saute, stirring constantly, until chicken is cooked, about 3 minutes.
• 6 add burdock, potato, daikon, and carrot to chicken. saute, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes.
• 7 add dashi, soy sauce, and salt to chicken mixture. heat to boiling, then reduce heat to medium-high. boil gently until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes, skimming any foam, if needed.
• 8 stir mushrooms and tofu into soup; cook 2 minutes. stir green onions into soup and remove from heat.
• 9 ladle soup into 4 soup bowls and serve immediately. pass seven spice powder or sansho at table.