Tonjiru, Pork Miso Soup

📝 Ingredients

• 240 g sushi rice
• 400 g minced pork
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 carrots (about 200 g)
• 1 turnip (about 150 g)
• 2 potatoes (about 300 g)
• 1 leek (about 150 g)
• 2 tsp dashi powder + 1.2 l water
• 4 tbsp white miso paste (about 70 g)
• 2 spring onions

🍴 Utensils

• Large pot
• Saucepan with lid
• Fine sieve
• Peeler
• Ladle
• Whisk

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the sushi rice in a fine sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Put it in a saucepan with 1.2 times its weight in water (about 290 ml for 240 g) and leave to soak for 15 min while you prepare the vegetables.
2. Peel the carrots, turnip and potatoes. Cut the carrots into 3 mm half-moons, and the turnip and potatoes into 2 cm dice. Split the leek in half, rinse it under the tap to remove any soil and slice into 1 cm pieces.
3. Bring the rice to the boil over a high heat, cover, turn the heat down to very low and cook for 12 min without lifting the lid. Turn off the heat and leave to stand, covered, for 10 min while the soup cooks.
4. Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat. Add the minced pork and fry for 4 to 5 min, breaking it up with a spatula, until no longer pink and starting to brown. Add all the vegetables and fry for 2 min, stirring.
5. Pour in the water and dashi, bring to the boil over a high heat and skim off the grey foam that forms on the surface. Reduce to a medium-low heat, half cover and simmer for 15 min, until the potatoes and turnip are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.
6. Turn off the heat. Whisk the miso paste into a ladle of hot stock until smooth, then pour it back into the soup and stir. Don't let it boil again: the miso would lose its aroma and turn grainy.
7. Thinly slice the spring onions. Taste the soup: the miso is enough to season it, so there's no need to add salt. Serve piping hot in large bowls, sprinkled with spring onion, with a bowl of rice on the side, Japanese style.