Japanese Cooking #1

So tonight I've made a dish from my Japanese Homestyle Dishes cookbook. I confess that I haven't used this book as much as I probably should. Although a good portion of the middle of the book is devoted to sushi. I have absolutely no desire to make my own sushi, lol. If I want sushi I just go down to the sushi street near the Otaru Canal. :)

This soup tastes really great, I usually eat it by itself and with a piece of buttered bread or a roll or some sort. It's light enough to eat in the summer and is comforting & hot on a cold winter day. You could also omit the chicken and make it a vegetarian dish. :)

This recipe is called: Tofu and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vinegar
4 oz. burdock root, peeled (optional) <-- I don't put this in
8 oz. firm tofu (called 'Momen' tofu in Japan)
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 0z. ground chicken <-- I usually double this
1 potato, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced <-- I chunk it
1 cup daikon (japanese white radish), peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
5 cups dashi stock or 2 1/2 teaspons instant dashi granuales disloved in 5 cups water*
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, quartered <-- I don't like mushrooms so I omit
2 spring onions, cut into sections
Seven spice chili mix or sansho powder <-- this is an essential ingredient

Directions:
1. Combine the water and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Shave the burdock root into thin, long strips and soak in the vinegar-water mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse & drain.
2. Using a fork, break the tofu roughly into chunks. Set aside.
3. Heat both the oils in a saucepan over medium heat and when hot, add the chicken. Stir-fry the chicken, until just cooked, about 1 min.
4. Add the burdock root, potato, daikon, adn carrot, and stir-fry for another 2 min.
5. Add the dashi stock, soy sauce, and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 4 min. Stir in the mushrooms and tofu into the soup, and simmer fo ranother 2 min. Add the spring onions and remove from the heat. Serve immediately with the seven spice chili mix or sansho powder.

*Trust me when I tell you that making your own Dashi stock is disgusting. The first time I made this recipe I made my own stock and it's basically water that you soften up dried seaweed in, then you pull out the seaweed and put a bunch of dried fish flakes in and boil. The disgusting part comes with a. fish smell, and b. you have to strain the fish flakes back out which is slimy and sticky. The instant stuff is just as good and is a lot less of a hassle. Any asian food store/japanese food section should have it.

Ok so here are some pictures of the soup. And I threw in a pic of the sansho powder in case you have trouble finding it.