One of my all-time favourite Japanese comfort foods is tonjiru, a hearty miso soup made with chunky root vegetables and slow-cooked pork, says Tim Anderson.
This recipe is based on that, but uses chicken instead of pork, for a lighter flavour, but with the same heart-warming effect. Like any good chicken soup, this one also works as a meal in and of itself.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 20g pearl barley, cooked (see method)
- 1 chicken drumstick or thigh, boned, cut into 2.5cm chunks
- ½ an onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 5g fresh ginger root, peeled and finely shredded
- 600ml dashi or chicken stock
- 50g daikon, peeled and cut into wedges about 5mm thick, or radishes, washed and quartered
- 70-80g burdock, Jerusalem artichokes or parsnips, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
- 1 small carrot, peeled and cut into semi-circles about 5mm thick
- 60g miso
- 1 spring onion, finely sliced
- shichimi pepper or chilli oil, to taste (optional)
Method
- Cooking times for pearl barley seem to vary widely depending on what kind you buy, so it’s best to cook it ahead of time according to the package instructions. Once it’s done, rinse it under cold water and set aside.
- Place the chicken, onion, garlic, ginger and dashi (or stock) together in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. Use a small sieve or ladle to remove any scum that forms on the surface.
- Boil for about 15 minutes, then add the daikon (or radishes), burdock (or alternatives) and carrot, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes until the vegetables and chicken are very soft. Top up with dashi or stock (or water, if you’ve run out) periodically so the broth doesn’t reduce.
- Add the cooked pearl barley and simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and whisk in the miso and spring onion.
- Serve hot with shichimi or chilli oil, if using.
- This should last four days in the refrigerator.
Taken from JapanEasy Bowls & Bento by Tim Anderson, published by Hardie Grant at £25. Photography by Laura Edwards. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £19.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
6 trailside homes for hikersFeature Featuring a roof deck with skyline views in California and a home with access to private trails in Montana
