Kenchin Jiru (Vegan Soup, けんちん汁)
Kenchin-jiru is a sort of Buddhist cuisine, Japanese vegetarian or vegan cuisine based on Buddhism. It’s soy flavoured Kombu kelp-based soup with many vegetables for ingredients including root vegetables. Basically, no animal-derived foods are used in this soup. However, some people add chicken or pork.
Ingredients
(for 4-5 servings)
- Taro 200 g
- Carrot 100 g
- Daikon radish 100 g
- Gobo 100 g
- Green onion 1 stick
- Konnyaku 1 sheet
- Tofu 1
- Sesame oil 1 tbsp
- Dashi broth (kombu kelp only preferred) 1000 mL
- Sake 3 tbsp
- Soy sauce 2 tbsp
Instructions
- Cut the carrot and the daikon radish into 5 mm thick quarter slice.
- Peel the taro skin and cut into bite-size chunks.
- Wash the gobo to remove the soil and cut it into random chunks.
- Cut the green onion into small pieces.
- Cut the konnyaku into half and slice into about 5 mm thick. Boil them for about 3 minutes, then drain the water.
- Cut the tofu into dices.
- Heat the sesame oil in a pot add the carrot, the daikon radish, the taro, and the gobo and stir-fry over medium-high heat for one minute.
- Add the konnyaku, the tofu, and the green onion to stir-fry for a few minutes.
- Pour the dashi broth and sake. Keep heating and simmer until the ingredients are cooked.
