Japanese Kenchinjiru and Buddhist Soup Stock Without Dashi Animal Ingredients

Ingredients

• For the kombu-shiitake dashi
• 15 g dried kombu, wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, whole
• 1 litre cold water, for cold infusion
• For the soup
• 100 g burdock root (gobo), scrubbed and cut into irregular pieces
• 100 g carrot, peeled and cut into irregular pieces
• 100 g daikon, peeled and cut into irregular pieces
• 100 g taro (satoimo), peeled and cut into irregular pieces
• 150 g firm tofu, cut into rough cubes
• 100 g konnyaku, torn into irregular pieces by hand
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce, divided: 1 tbsp early, 1 tbsp at finish
• 1 tsp salt, for blanching konnyaku; plus seasoning to taste
• To garnish
• 1 small handful kinome (young sansho leaves) or hajikami ginger shoots, to serve

Method

1. 1
   Place the dried kombu and dried shiitake in 1 litre of cold water. Refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours. Cold extraction favours the 5'-nucleotide guanylate compounds in the shiitake that are the biochemical foundation of shojin dashi. After infusion, remove the kombu and shiitake; strain the dashi through a fine cloth to remove any grit from the shiitake. Reserve the dashi and slice the rehydrated shiitake caps for the soup. The dashi is ready when it is pale amber, lightly fragrant, and faintly mineral on the tongue.
2. 2
   Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the konnyaku pieces and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. The blanching removes the alkaline off-flavours contributed by the calcium hydroxide used in konnyaku's coagulation — the pieces should smell neutral, not soapy, when lifted from the water.
3. 3
   Heat the sesame oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the burdock, carrot, daikon, and taro. Sauté, stirring regularly, until the vegetables are lightly coloured at their edges and the pot smells of toasted sesame and developing sweetness — this is where the dish lives or dies. The Maillard compounds and caramelised sweetness built here cannot be recovered at a later stage; vegetables simmered without this step produce a soup that lacks the savoury depth that defines kenchinjiru. The root vegetables are ready when they are fragrant and faintly golden at the cut surfaces.
4. 4
   Add the blanched konnyaku, sliced shiitake caps, and tofu to the pot. Pour in the strained kombu-shiitake dashi. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce at this point. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the root vegetables are fully tender throughout — a skewer should pass through burdock and taro without resistance.
5. 5
   Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and adjust salt. The final seasoning should produce a soup that is clearly savoury and satisfying without being sharp or salty — taste for the layered umami quality that distinguishes a correctly built shojin dashi from simple salted water. Ladle into bowls and garnish with kinome or hajikami.