Japanese foods--shirumono

torakris · April 15, 2003

Japanese soups (shirumono) are essentially divided into 2 types:

shimashijiru (clear soups)

misoshiru (miso soups)

what are some of your favorites?

Jinmyo · April 15, 2003

Miso-shiru. I usually use shiro (white) miso. A very gently simmered dashi, baby spinach, cubed silken tofu.

torakris · April 16, 2003

my absolute favorite soup is the oozoni that my MIL prepares for new years day.

A clear soup with carrots, gobo,daikon,thin slices of wagyu beef and a grilled piece of mochi all topped off with mistuba.

I really need to learn how she makes it someday.

Jason Perlow · April 16, 2003

I like the red miso one.

Jinmyo · April 16, 2003

Jason, I find hatcho miso (the red one) great in the winter time as a breakfast drink.

smallworld · April 16, 2003

Red miso with chopped natto, with either sliced green onions or mistuba. Sometimes I can find natto already chopped, but usually I do it myself and it makes a big sticky mess on my cutting board. I would make it everyday if it weren't for that.

Regular miso soup with suiton (flour dumplings) is another favourite, as is kenchin-jiru.

When I'm feeling fancy I like suimono with shrimp, wakame and bamboo shoots.

torakris · April 16, 2003

Red miso with chopped natto, with either sliced green onions or mistuba. Sometimes I can find natto already chopped, but usually I do it myself and it makes a big sticky mess on my cutting board. I would make it everyday if it weren't for that.
Regular miso soup with suiton (flour dumplings) is another favourite, as is kenchin-jiru.
When I'm feeling fancy I like suimono with shrimp, wakame and bamboo shoots.

suiton in miso soup is wonderful!

Natto is not! :angry:

tissue · April 16, 2003

mushroom soup!

SobaAddict70 · April 17, 2003

Well, I can't really pick a favorite, you see.

I really love soup, in any form.

I dig both clear soups and misoshiru.

My favorite clear soup has clams or mussels, a shiso leaf, some enoki mushrooms and a thin slice of lime.

A close second is a single sweet shrimp, half a glazed chestnut and some thinly sliced burdock.

And then, there is a mound of shredded duck, a matsutake mushroom, cubes of silken tofu and hijiki.

Cheers,

Soba

torakris · July 24, 2003

http://www.soupsong.com/zmay01.html

interesting article on Japanese soups

skchai · July 24, 2003

http://www.soupsong.com/zmay01.html
interesting article on Japanese soups

Soupsong is one of my favorite personal food sites. Don't know who Pat Solley is or why how she got so obsessed with soup, but it's a great place to browse aimlessly.

helenjp · July 2, 2006

Inspire me, please! When the temperatures are in triple figures, my husband still wants his steaming bowl of miso soup, but nobody else in my family is quite that crazy.

We've tried the usual - the cold miso soup, or the chilled tororo-imo soup, but they don't inspire him. Gazpacho goes OK with Japanese food, and I could eat chilled chicken broth with tougan (winter melon) in it every day, but there must be MORE!!!

maryeats · July 2, 2006

How about a chilled bean sprout and cucumber soup spiced up with slices of chilies and sesame oil?

Or, Mul (water) Kimchi is always tasty.

Hiroyuki · July 2, 2006

Why not just google hiyajiru (冷や汁 or 冷汁) and let your husband decide what he wants to have?

I did some googling and found some examples for your husband.

Shiso leaf and cucumber version:

http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/haruyama/hiyasiru.htm

Okura version:

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nagano/eve/chubo/2003/0703.html

While searching, I noticed that this Wikipedia page says that hiyajiru is the name of the different local dishes of Miyazaki and Yamagat prefectures, but I think that it's just a generic name for cold soup. (Maybe I'm wrong.)

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%86%B7%E6%B1%81

Good luck! :biggrin:

helenjp · July 2, 2006

Maryeats, mul kimchi sounds tasty! Korean soups do go well with Japanese food, and cold wakame soup is a summer favorite with us.

Hiroyuki, I showed my husband your links. Predictably, he said "iranai" to the cold miso version, but looked considerably more interested in the cold okra soup, so I'll try that one. The combination of okra, junsai, and nameko looks good.

Although he's from Hokkaido, Tohoku "hiya-jiru" is unfamiliar to him. He just doesn't like the combination of COLD and MISO. I do think those are more a north Japan thing, because I'm pretty sure that tororo-jiru was about the only cold soup I remember eating in Kansai. I don't remember hearing the word "hiya-jiru" in Kansai either, come to think of it!

Hiroyuki · July 2, 2006

He just doesn't like the combination of COLD and MISO.
←

I'm like your husband in that regard. I want to have hot miso soup even on a sweltering summer day.

helenjp · July 3, 2006

I made the "okra version" cold soup from your link yesterday - it was good, and everybody in the family liked it! (Strong katsuo dashi with finely chopped okra, junsai, and nameko). It needs quite a heavy hand with soy sauce and salt though.

Hot miso on sweltering days = misery!

Now to finish off the current batch of refrigerator pickles so I can put a batch of mul kimchi in there...

torakris · July 3, 2006

I made the "okra version" cold soup from your link yesterday - it was good, and everybody in the family liked it! (Strong katsuo dashi with finely chopped okra, junsai, and nameko). It needs quite a heavy hand with soy sauce and salt though.
←

That sounds really good, do you think it will make a huge difference if I leave out the junsai? It is pretty expensive over here...

helenjp · July 4, 2006

It would make a difference to me, because I love junsai, but it's main contribution is adding sourness. I forgot to say that the original recipe includes shreds of fresh ginger, which pick up the flavor wonderfully too.

_john · July 5, 2006

I highly recommend "tomato water" or "tomato consomme" chilled. It is one of my secret recipes, I serve it in shot glasses as an appetizer and people go wild for it. It's a great way to prepare a crowd for a more adventurous meal. But in a small bowl with some mizuna it is amazing, very refreshing.

tomato water:

puree tomatoes in a blender then strain them through cheesecloth or a coffee filer to drain off the tomato water. This draining is best done overnight. Add enough salt to really bring out the tomato flavor. chill and serve. I sometimes serve it with tomato water ice cubes floating in it, or something of with a jelly like consistency floating in it (maybe konyakku would work here).

gini · July 10, 2006

How about Naengmyun - a cold Korean soup with pickles, cucumber, hard boiled egg, noodles, beef broth, ice cubes and beef strips?

helenjp · August 3, 2006

Dead easy non-miso soup...pork with takana-zuke pickles.

Simmer a hunk of pork belly in water or dashi till tender, leave till cool, remove meat, slice off the thickest layer of fat and then slice remaining meat thinly and reserve.

Soak 1 pickled takana leaf in water for about 30 minutes (1 big leaf will do 4-6 bowls of soup). Squeeze, chop finely, add to broth and return meat.

Reheat, season lightly with salt and shoyu, and there you go.

Pork stirfried with pickled takana leaves is good too.

Lynn Shipp · August 3, 2006

Where I live, it is a little hard to find certain ingredients for cooking many Japanese foods, but there are still things I can enjoy. I like to buy Kikkoman's Shiro Miso soup. I find it very tasty. Miso is so simple and light. It's great for having on a hot, humid Virginia summer day. It's 102 degrees F outside today, but it feels like 111 degrees F. It's sweltering. :wacko:

Priscilla · June 4, 2007

Hello, denizens of the Japan forum.

Sometimes at our regular sushi bar the owner gives us bowls of delicious soup w/salmon in it... a clear soup, with a few wisps of onion, that he emphasizes is homestyle.

I assumed it was a traditional soup, but do not find it in the Japanese cookbooks I have.

There is a definite richness and body lent by the salmon pieces, but is it also a salmon broth? Or is it dashi based? Salmon trimmings, with bone and skin, and onion are the only visible items in the broth.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Guidance would be greatly appreciated. (I'd also be interested in other salmon-trimmings applications.)

Hiroyuki · June 5, 2007

You basically want a recipe for ara jiru.

Here is just one example from here:

Ingredients:

100 g ara (trimmings)

1/3 tofu

1/8 negi (Japanese scallion)

4 myoga (Japanese ginger)

1/3 tsp salt

5 drops light soy sauce

10 ml sake

800 ml water

1. Cut trimmings into appropriate sizes and sprinkle salt and let them stand for 30 min. to 1 hour.

2. Boil water, put trimmings (for blanching), put them in cold water, and clean them (remove any blood clot).

3. Put water, sake, kombu (not listed in the list above), and trimmings. Skim foam. Simmer for 20 to 30 min.

4. Season with salt and light soy sauce, put tofu, negi, and myoga.

Steps 1 and 2 are for removing odor.

Note that the recipe above is just one example. For sumashi jiru (clear soup), subtlety is the key. You don't want to spoil it with too much seasoning.

You don't need dashi because you can get enough dashi from the trimmings.

You can see photos of ara jiru here. Many are miso-based.

Unfortunately, I have never made ara jiru myself. :sad:

Edited June 5, 2007 by Hiroyuki (log)

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