About the Recipe
Is it a stew or is it a soup? Tonjiru in Japanese literally means "pork soup". In some parts of Japan, it goes by the alternative name of Butajiru - pig in soup! Although it should therefore be regarded as a soup, I think it is better described as a stew because of the ingredients and the fact that a bowl of this is a meal in itself. Whatever you may call it, tonjiru makes a great warming dish for a cold autumn or winter evening.
Ingredients
2 slices, belly pork (approx. 250g / 9 oz)
3 fresh shiitake mushrooms
35g / 1 oz gobo (burdock)
150g / 5 oz daikon (white radish), peeled & sliced into bite size pieces
70g / 2.5 oz carrot, peeled & sliced into bitesize pieces
2 baby potatoes, peeled & cut into bite size pieces
1/3 packet of konyaku, cut into bite size pieces
650ml japanese dashi stock*
1.5 tbsp sesame oil
0.5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp miso
a little shichimi (japanese chilli)
1 spring onion, finely chopped
* I used a japanese dashi bag to make the dashi stock but you can make your own japanese dashi stock — see my recipes for how to make dashi stock in the stock section
Preparation
rinse the shiitake mushrooms, remove the stalks & cut into bite size pieces
peel / scrape the skin off of the gobo (burdock), pare it into thin strips, then soak it in water for 5 mins
heat the oil in a pan, add the carrot, pork, potatoes & daikon (white radish) to the pan and stir fry for 2-3 minutes
add the dashi stock, mushrooms, konyaku, mirin & soy sauce and cook for 10 - 15 minutes
dissolve the miso in a small bowl with some of the dashi stock from the pan, then add back to the pan & simmer for 10 mins
your tonjiru is now ready. garnish with spring onion & shichimi and serve with a bowl of rice