Kuzu-Thickened Clear Soup (吉野汁, Yoshinojiru)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth or sturdy paper towel
• •Lacquer soup bowls (wan), or small warmed ceramic bowls
• •Small bowl and pestle for crushing kuzu, or the back of a spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the konbu

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. The pale powder on the surface is flavor, not dirt. Put the konbu in the cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat, about ten minutes. Pull it out when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides of the pot. If the konbu boils, the stock can turn bitter and a little slick, and that clean edge is what this soup depends on.

   You're steeping the kelp, not extracting it by force. Gentle heat gives depth without clouding the broth.
2. 2

   Steep the bonito

   Bring the konbu water just to a gentle boil, then add the katsuobushi all at once. Take the pot off the heat and leave it alone for two or three minutes, until the flakes sink. Don't stir. Stirring breaks the flakes and pulls out rougher flavors that belong nowhere near a clear soup.

3. 3

   Strain the dashi

   Strain the dashi through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth or sturdy paper towel. Let it drip naturally. Don't squeeze the flakes, because squeezing presses out oily, strong flavors and dulls the pale gold stock. Measure out 4 cups for the soup.

4. 4

   Prepare the fillings

   Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon sake and a pinch of salt, then dust it lightly with 1 tablespoon of the hon-kuzu. Shake off the excess. The slanted cut gives each piece more surface, so it cooks quickly, and the thin kuzu coat keeps the meat tender. Cut the turnips into neat wedges, score the shiitake caps if you like, and keep the carrot slices thin so they cook at the same pace as the turnip.

5. 5

   Season the broth

   Put the 4 cups dashi in a clean pot with 1 tablespoon sake, the mirin, usukuchi shōyu, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring it to a quiet simmer and taste. It should be clear and lightly seasoned, with more depth than salt. The kuzu will soften the seasoning a little, so the broth may taste just a shade fuller now than you want in the finished bowl.

6. 6

   Cook the vegetables

   Add the turnip wedges, shiitake caps, and carrot slices to the seasoned dashi. Simmer gently for four to six minutes, until a skewer slips into the turnip with only a little resistance. Keep the bubbles small. A hard boil knocks the pieces around, clouds the soup, and makes the turnip edges look tired.

7. 7

   Poach the chicken

   Slip the kuzu-dusted chicken pieces into the broth one by one so they don't stick together. Poach for two to three minutes, skimming any foam that rises, until the chicken is just cooked through. Don't boil it hard. Strong heat tightens the meat and muddies the broth, and this dish has nowhere to hide that.

8. 8

   Thicken with kuzu

   Crush the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons hon-kuzu if it is in hard lumps, then dissolve it completely in 3 tablespoons cold water. Stir the soup gently in one direction and pour in the slurry in a thin stream. Let the soup return to a quiet simmer and cook for one to two minutes, until the broth turns glossy and translucent and lightly coats the ladle. Stop while it still moves like soup. If it drags like sauce, thin it with a little hot dashi or water.

   The change from cloudy to glossy is the signal. Raw kuzu tastes chalky, cooked kuzu tastes clean and lets the dashi cling.
9. 9

   Bowl and finish

   Warm four soup bowls with hot water, then empty them. Set two pieces of chicken, two turnip wedges, one shiitake cap, and one carrot slice in each bowl. Ladle the thickened dashi around them, not over them like a flood. Finish with one mitsuba sprig and one strip of yuzu peel. Serve at once, while the broth is glossy and the yuzu is still bright.

Chef Tips

• •Use hon-kuzu if you can find it, the pure root starch sold in small white chunks. Potato starch will thicken a broth, but it gives a shorter, cloudier body. That's a sensible emergency stand-in, not Yoshinojiru in its best voice.
• •Dissolve kuzu only in cold water. Hot liquid seizes the outside of each grain before the middle can loosen, and you get little pearls of starch in a soup that should be smooth.
• •If you want a meatless table, make the dashi with konbu and dried shiitake and set yuba or small cubes of grilled tofu in the bowl. The temple kitchens know this road well, and it is honmono, not a compromise.
• •Keep the bowl restrained. One extra mushroom will not ruin your life, though cookbooks have survived worse, but crowding turns suimono into stew. The empty broth is part of the pleasure.
• •Taste again after the kuzu cooks. Thickening softens the salt on your tongue, so a final grain of salt may be right. Add it carefully. More soy darkens the soup.

Advance Preparation

• •The konbu can soak in the cold water overnight in the refrigerator before you make the dashi. This gives a gentler, rounder stock.
• •Finished dashi keeps two days refrigerated. Reheat it gently before making the soup, and keep the kuzu thickening for the last moment.
• •The vegetables can be cut several hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Cut and dust the chicken shortly before cooking so the kuzu stays dry and clings evenly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)