Japanese Kenchin Jiru: Root Vegetable Buddhist Soup and Monastic Technique

Ingredients

• For the konbu-shiitake dashi
• 1 piece (10 cm) dried konbu, wiped with damp cloth
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in cold water until fully rehydrated; soaking water reserved
• 1 litre cold water
• 1 stalk (approx. 150 g) gobo (burdock root), scrubbed, skin left on, cut into rough irregular pieces; soaked in cold water with a splash of rice vinegar
• 150 g daikon, skin left on, cut into rough irregular pieces
• 1 medium (approx. 100 g) carrot, skin left on, cut into rough irregular pieces
• 2 medium (approx. 150 g) satoimo (taro), peeled, cut into rough irregular pieces
• 300 g firm tofu (momen), hand-crumbled into irregular pieces; not cut
• 150 g konnyaku, torn by hand or broken with chopsticks into irregular pieces; not cut
• 2 tbsp light sesame oil, not toasted sesame oil
• To season
• 3 tbsp soy sauce, added in final 5 minutes only
• 2 tbsp mirin

Method

1. 1
   Prepare the dashi. Combine the konbu and rehydrated shiitake (with their soaking water, strained) and the cold water in a pot. Bring slowly to just below a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove the konbu before the liquid boils. Allow the shiitake to steep a further 10 minutes, then remove. The dashi is ready when it is pale gold and carries a clean, deep marine-fungal fragrance.
2. 2
   Drain the soaked burdock thoroughly. Heat the light sesame oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the burdock, daikon, carrot, and satoimo. Sauté, turning regularly, until the vegetables are lightly glossed with oil, the cut surfaces appear slightly translucent at their edges, and the kitchen carries a warm, nutty, earthy fragrance. This initial oiling is where the dish lives or dies: it seals the vegetable surfaces, prevents over-absorption of dashi, and builds the rounded richness that distinguishes kenchin jiru from a plain simmered soup — vegetables that go directly into dashi without this step will produce a thinner, less integrated result.
3. 3
   Add the crumbled tofu and torn konnyaku to the pot. Stir once to coat with the sesame oil. Pour in the prepared dashi. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, skimming any surface foam. The liquid should be active but not rolling — fine bubbles at the surface.
4. 4
   Simmer uncovered until the burdock and taro are fully tender. Test by pressing a piece of taro against the side of the pot with a chopstick: it should yield completely without resistance. The burdock should offer no starchy hardness at its centre. Inadequate cooking at this stage leaves an unpleasant rawness in the root vegetables.
5. 5
   In the final 5 minutes of simmering, add the soy sauce and mirin. Stir gently. Do not add seasoning before this point — early addition darkens and toughens the vegetables. Taste the broth: it should be lightly sweet, savoury, and umami-deep, with the sesame oil richness perceptible beneath the dashi. Adjust with a few drops of soy sauce if required.
6. 6
   Ladle into warmed bowls — lacquerware where available, in keeping with the temple tradition in which this soup originated. Each portion should contain a mixture of all vegetables, tofu, and konnyaku. The broth should be clear and pale amber in the bowl.