The first time I tried traditional Japanese clear soup was also on the first date I had with my husband at a hibachi steakhouse. While I’ve yet to have a chance to visit Japan, this simple soup holds a special place in my heart.
Be sure to try this vegetarian ramen recipe, too!
What is Traditional Japanese Clear Soup?
I admit, when the waiter at the Japanese restaurant we’d chosen put the bowl of this simple soup in front of me, I wasn’t impressed. It looked like…clear broth. I sampled it, not sure what to expect, and was surprised at the depth of flavor. It was the perfect way to start our meal.
Common at hibachi restaurants or teppanyaki establishments, this Japanese clear onion soup is usually served as a starter before the main course.
If you’d like to try a little taste of Japan without hopping on a plane, this recipe is an easy place to start!
Ingredients
Chicken broth: This is the base of the soup, so start with a delicious broth. Prefer a beef broth? That would work, too, though it will be a bit stronger than the chicken stock. If you are vegetarian, you could certainly replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth, but it wouldn’t exactly be a traditional Japanese clear soup.
Onions: You’ll use several types of onions for this recipe. For making the broth, use any kind of bulb sweet onion you have on hand — white, yellow, or red. Once ready to serve, you’ll sprinkle chopped green onion or scallions on the strained broth. If you want to try a different type of onion, spring onions would be a good alternative.
Carrots: Chop carrots into chunks (for the large carrot option) or if you have baby carrots, you can put them in the broth whole.
Ginger: Choose fresh knobs of ginger and peel if desired, though it’s not necessary. If you opt not to peel, just be sure you wash them well. [Read about ginger vs. ginger powder.]
Garlic: Peel whole garlic cloves. Use small cloves whole; slice larger ones. Either way, you’ll have delicious garlic flavor in this Japanese onion soup!
Mushrooms: This recipe calls for button mushrooms, which you’ll add to the broth after it’s strained. Could you use shiitake mushrooms? Sure you could.
Making the Soup
You’ll start by sautéing the onion, carrots, ginger, and garlic in a large saucepan or stock pot. Once seared and beginning to caramelize, you’ll add the meat stock and simmer for an hour or so.
Strain the solids to create a clear broth.
Serving this Healthy Soup
Spoon broth into serving bowls and top with sliced mushrooms and green onions. Serve this flavorful soup with soy sauce and sesame oil on the side for people who want to add a little something else.
Divide between four bowls as a starter before the rest of the meal, or two bowls for a light meals. (Nutritional information is based on four bowls.)
This delicious soup is a traditional Japanese soup and a favorite at hibachi restaurants, but it's easy to make at home. Your taste buds will be so happy!
Ingredients
2 teaspoons oil
6 cups chicken broth
1 large sweet onion, peeled and cut into wedges
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
4 whole scallions, sliced
10 button mushrooms, sliced thinly
salt to taste
Instructions
Heat a large pot over medium high heat; add oil.
Place the onion, carrots, and ginger in the stock pot. Sear the veggies on all sides to caramelize.
Add garlic and cook just until it begins to brown.
Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot, and simmer for one hour.
Pour broth through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the solids; reserve for another use. Taste the broth and salt as needed.
To serve: Divide hot broth between four individual bowls and top with fresh sliced scallions and sliced mushrooms.
Notes
For a vegetarian diet, use vegetable stock to replace the chicken broth.
Choose fresh knobs of ginger and peel if desired, though it's not necessary.
Opt for a neutral flavored oil, like avocado or sunflower oil.
Serve this soup with soy sauce and sesame oil on the side as a simple, light meal or a first course.
Japanese Clear Soup or Osumashi features a simple dashi-based broth lightly seasoned with soy sauce. With this elegant soup, you can easily switch up the colorful ingredients depending on what's in season. Here, I added kamaboko fish cake slices, mitsuba leaf, shiitake mushrooms, and flower-shaped fu (wheat gluten).
Japanese soups can be divided into two major categories—miso soup and clear soup. Both are made with dashi, soup stock. Miso is mixed into the dashi to make miso soup, while clear soups use salt, soy sauce and sake to add flavor to the dashi. Most people tend to have miso soup with everyday meals, especially breakfast.
Miso soup (味噌汁 or お味噌汁, misoshiru or omisoshiru, お-/o- being an 'honorific prefix') is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a dashi stock into which softened miso paste is mixed. In addition, there are many optional ingredients (various vegetables, tofu, abura-age, etc.)
Is Japanese Clear Soup good for you? This recipe is a super wholesome dish! It's made with fresh vegetables for added nutrients and can be even more wholesome if bone broth is used instead of broth. Though it's definitely not a main dish by itself, it's the perfect light appetizer or side that's easy to digest.
In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been clarified, a process that uses egg whites to remove fat and sediment.
One of the foundations of Japanese food, miso soup can now be found all over the world. Made from traditional Japanese flavours, miso soup is both delicious and nutritious — it's high in protein while being low on calories.
Dashi is the cooking broth at the heart of Japanese cuisine. This clear, and unassuming broth is infused with a distinct umami (savory) flavor, adding richness and depth to any dish.
Miso soup is low calorie, low fat, and high in nutrient content, so it is safe to eat daily. However, it does have a high salt content. So, those on blood thinning medication or who have heart problems (including high blood pressure and heart disease) may want to limit their consumption of miso soup.
Miso soup is a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soybeans. It is rich in probiotics that promote gut health and improve digestion. Consuming miso soup can help provide relief from stomach discomfort and other gastrointestinal issues.
Soy sauce is the most common substitute for miso paste. Miso is thick and creamy, whereas soy sauce is thin like water, but if texture isn't a factor, they are both made of soy and chock full of salty and savory notes.
The white color in miso soup comes from the miso paste itself. Miso is made from fermented soybeans, and depending on the variety, it can also contain rice, barley, or other grains. The fermentation process gives miso its characteristic white color.
Noodle slurping is a tradition not just with ramen but also with soba and udon. Slurping enables you to fully appreciate the aroma as you consume, whether it is cold or heated. It is conceptually comparable to a wine tasting, when both taste and scent are critical to fully appreciating the wine.
Approved clear liquids: a good combination of these clear fluids, including 2-3 cups of strained chicken noodle soup will give you a variation in fluid intake). Water, clear salty fluids (eg.
Introduction: My name is Merrill Bechtelar CPA, I am a clean, agreeable, glorious, magnificent, witty, enchanting, comfortable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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