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.)
Japanese Clear Soup
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour15 minutes
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.
It has miso in it. Miso is fine particles of soy as a thick paste, so if you add dashi (broth), you get fine particles in broth. If you give it a few minutes, they'll settle out, and you may need to stir it up a bit.
What Is Japanese Clear Soup? This simple broth-based soup is primarily made of meat broths and vegetables simmered together over a long period to create a deep rich flavor. The vegetables are then removed so the soup is clear, and garnishes like scallions and thinly sliced mushrooms are added to the top.
Clear soup is a soup that is made by simmering veggies, & or meat in a liquid until all the flavors are released. These soups are clear and are great for those on a liquid diet. Clear soups are made without the addition of any spices, starch or any other flavoring ingredients.
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.
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.
Clear soups include broth, hearty broth, and Consommé. Our clear soup course will guide you step by step, to succeed in making those delicious, rich flavors clear soups.
Although miso is still unknown to many, individuals who are familiar with it have most likely consumed it in the form of Japanese miso soup. It's incredibly nutritious and linked to a variety of health benefits, including better digestion and a stronger immune system.
It is believed that over three-quarters of people in Japan consume miso soup at least once a day. The origins of this popular dish can be traced back to ancient times. It became a 'daily meal' for the samurais during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), and, during the age of Japanese civil wars.
Clear soups are also called passed soups, as any chunks of ingredients are taken out of the soup, and you are left with a liquid soup. Consommé, a French clarified meat or fish broth, is a classic version of a clear soup.
Clear soups, such as chicken soup, vegetable soup, and tomato soup, are made by simmering meat, vegetables, or both in water. Thick soups, such as chowder, stew, and gumbo, are made by thickening a liquid with flour, cornstarch, or another thickener.
The main difference between miso soup and clear soup lies in their base ingredients. Miso soup is made with a base of dashi stock and miso paste, while clear soup is made with a clear, flavorful broth.
During the Kamakura period and the age of Japanese civil wars, miso soup was used by military commanders as field ration, thus giving birth to the custom of serving miso soup with everyday meals. The proper way to eat miso soup is quite different from western soups!
Miso soup contains several beneficial vitamins, minerals, and components that may improve your gut and heart health and may lower your risk of cancer. If you are on a low-salt diet, read the label on packaged miso soup to choose one that's low in sodium.
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.
You turn on the heat, the pot heats up, and it's not long before all that whitish, greyish, or brownish foamy “scum” rises to the top of the pot just as it starts to simmer. What is that stuff, anyway? Broth scum is simply denatured congealed protein. It comes from the meat, not the bones.
Fat Separation: Many soups contain fats from ingredients like meat or oil. When the soup cools in the refrigerator, these fats can solidify and rise to the surface, creating a white film. This is particularly common in soups with higher fat content.
What is that scummy stuff? Impurities that form on the surface of some stocks and soups are rogue proteins which coagulate when heated, says Rosemary Trout, a culinary and food science professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
The proteins in the miso paste separates in the liquid, creating a clearer broth on top and a creamy cloudiness a few millimetres below the surface. This is absolutely normal and actually a sign of proper miso soup, just give it a quick stir before drinking it.
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