Japanese soup with mochi dumplings
About Japanese soup with mochi dumplings
This is a kind of soup commonly made at home in Japan. Therefore in many cases, you can combine the ingredients freely with root vegetables and those left in the refrigerator or cupboard. For root vegetables, Japanese often use Daikon radishes, carrots, burdock roots, lotus roots, taro etc. I think you can purchase these vegetables at Asian supermarket. For other ingredients, you can add tofu, chicken, pork, and some more vegetables (shiitake mushrooms, green onion, snow peas etc) as well. You can make hearty soup then. Unlike the well known Miso soup, this soup is seasoned with soy sauce and salt which gives a lighter taste.
In Japan, soup is usually served with rice, but I wanted to make a one-pot meal, hence I added mochi dumplings to the soup. I don’t think there are many soups that contain dumplings, but I do because my family likes the dumplings a lot. The chewy mochi dumplings are very delicious. In short if you put the whole pot on the table, you can enjoy it with everyone.
Mochi dumplings
Usually, in Japan, people use glutinous rice flour called Shiratamako to make mochi dumplings. However, it is difficult to obtain the same thing overseas, so you can purchase glutinous rice flour at Asian supermarket and make mochi dumplings. If you like to know more about glutinour rice, click the link below.
The basic amount of water for glutinous rice flour is the same as the weight of the flour (100 ml of water for 100 g of rice flour). But I have also experienced that this makes it too soft. Therefore, add 2/3 of water and mix by hand first, then adjust it little by little until it doesn’t stick to your hands or bowl and it looks like white clay.
If the mochi dumplings are left soaked in soup for a long time , the surface will become soggy and the soup becomes cloudy. Therefore after adding mochi dumplings to the soup, eat them within a couple of hours.
If you made too many dumplings, it’s a good idea to eat them as a dessert. Serve with fruits and sprinkle with syrup, or coat dumplings with sesame and sugar mixture which you process in a food processor for a delicious dessert.
Thickening the soup
It is delicious to thicken the soup in the cold winter months. So, if you like, add cornstarch and water mixture to the soup to thicken it before adding mochi dumplings and green onions.
Japanese soup with mochi dumplings
Equipment
- pot with a lid
Ingredients
- 300 gram Chicken thigh or breast (cut into small bite size)
- 400 gram Daikon radish (peel and cut into quarter rounds with about 7 mm width)
- 200 gram Carrots (peel and cut randomly into small bite size)
- 150 gram Burdock root (peel and cut randomly into small bite size)
- 50 gram Shiitake mushrooms (cut into small bite size)
- 150 – 200 gram Green onion (cut diagonally with a width of 5 mm)
- 200 gram Glutinous rice flour
- 150-200 gram Water
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 800 ml Dashi stock or Water
- 2 tablespoon Japanese sake or Chinese rice wine or sherry
- 1.5 tablespoon Mirin (if you have)
- 2/3 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Soy sauce
Instructions
- Burdock root : After peeling and cutting it into small pieces, soak them in water to remove the lye and drain the water.
- Put oil in a pot and heat over medium heat. Add chicken and fry until outside is slightly browned.
- Add daikon radish, carrot, burdock root and shiitake mushroom and fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add dashi stock or water, sake and mirin. Boil once, and scoop up the scum / foam cleanly. When the scum has settled down, put a lid on and simmer for about 20- 30 minutes over low heat or until the root vegetables are soft.
- In the mean time, make mochi dumplings. Put the glutinous rice flour in a bowl, add about 2/3 of the water and mix. Once the water has spread, start kneading. Add the remaining water little by little and knead until it looks like clay that doesn't stick to your bowl or hands.
- Roll the dough into bite size balls. Boil water in another pot.
- After rolling all the dough into balls, boil the mochi dumplings. When the dumplings float on the surface, boil them for another 1-2 minutes and take them out into cold water. When dumplings get cold, drain the water.
- When the vegetables are tender, add salt and soy sauce, mix and check the taste. If necessary, add salt or / and soy sauce. Add the drained mochi dumplings and green onions, and cook for a couple minutes. When the green onions turn bright green, turn off the heat and go to the table with the pot.
Notes
If you like miso soup, click the link below for the recipe.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy hearty soup. Bon Appetit !
