- Updated: October 29, 2020
Kenjinjiru or sometimes spelled as Kenchin-jiru (“jiru” means soup in Japanese) has its name “Kenchin” derived from “Kencho” – the Zen Buddhist temple, Kencho-ji (建長寺) in Kamakura.
Japanese Vegetable Soup (Kenchinjiru) was originally a Buddhist dish. Root vegetables and tofu are sautéed and cooked in flavoured dashi broth. Dashi is Japanese soup stock or broth.
It becomes 100% vegetarian if vegetarian dashi stock such as konbu (Japanese: 昆布 – a type of edible kelp) dashi or shiitake dashi is used.
Note:
Tbsp = tablespoon
Chopped = chopped or cut into ½ cm pieces
How to make Kenchinjiru
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp sesame oil in a pan.
2. Add yam roots, radish, carrot, shiitake mushrooms and spring onion whites.
3. Stir and sauté on a low flame for 2 minutes.
4. Add water and soup stock.
5. Stir and bring to rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
6. Add leek and shimeji mushrooms.
7. Stir and stew for 10 minutes on a low to medium flame
8. Add tofu and soy sauce and salt.
9. Cover the pan with its lid and simmer on a low flame for 10 minutes. Stir the dish once or twice while it is simmering.
10. After switching off the flame, add spring onion greens.
11. Stir and close the lid.
12. Give a quick stir and serve the soup hot.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 60 mins
Cuisine inspiration: Japanese
Ingredients
1 to 2 packs firm tofu/momen tofu (about 300 g per pack)
1 carrot sliced to 2 cm thick
1 small (50 g to 100 g) daikon (winter radish), sliced to 2 cm thick
100 g shimeji mushrooms
10 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms. Soak in water for ½ to 1 hour before using.
1 or 2 pieces (300 g) taro or yam roots or burdock roots, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
1 leek, cut into 2 cm pieces
500 ml boiling water
2 stems spring onions/scallions, separate the white and green sections and cut to 2 cm lengths.
1 tbsp sesame oil
½ to 1 tbsp oil
Dashi Broth
800 ml mushroom based or vegetable based dashi stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
A pinch of salt – to adjust as required
Ingredients I would like to have but are not available
100 g konnyaku, a jelly made from the bulbo-tuber of the konjac plant. (if available)
2 tbsp sake