Kenchinjiru Buddhist Root Vegetable Soup Kamakura Origins

Ingredients

• 1.2 litres kombu-shiitake dashi, cold-steeped or simmered; strained before use
• 150 g gobo (burdock root), scrubbed, cut into irregular rangiri pieces
• 120 g ninjin (carrot), peeled, cut into half-moons 5 mm thick
• 120 g renkon (lotus root), peeled, cut into half-moons 5 mm thick
• 150 g satoimo (taro), peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 150 g daikon, peeled, cut into quarter-rounds 1 cm thick
• 100 g konnyaku, torn to irregular pieces by hand, not knife-cut
• 300 g momen tofu (firm tofu), drained, broken into rough irregular pieces by hand
• 2 tbsp neutral sesame oil, untoasted; for sautéing
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, to taste at the end
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar, for blanching water; to remove gobo harshness
• To finish
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, added at service, not during cooking
• 4 sprigs mitsuba or sliced spring onion, to garnish

Method

1. 1
   Bring a small pan of water to the boil with the rice vinegar. Add the gobo pieces and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain. The vinegar water will discolour slightly; this is the harshness leaving the root. Drain the gobo and set aside.
2. 2
   Heat the neutral sesame oil in a heavy soup pot or donabe over medium-high heat until the oil begins to shimmer and moves freely across the surface. Add the gobo and renkon — the two hardest roots — first. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the cut surfaces show faint golden colour and a nutty, faintly earthy aroma rises from the pan. Add the daikon, carrot, and konnyaku and continue to sauté for a further 2 minutes. The vegetables should not be cooked through; they must take colour on the surface while remaining firm within. This is where the dish lives or dies: the brief sauté in sesame oil seals the vegetable surfaces, develops slight Maillard browning, and builds a layer of flavour complexity that no amount of simmering can replicate if the step is skipped.
3. 3
   Add the satoimo. Stir to coat in the oil for 30 seconds, then pour in the kombu-shiitake dashi in a single addition. The liquid should come to a simmer within 2–3 minutes. Adjust heat to a gentle, steady simmer — small, consistent bubbles across the surface — and cook, uncovered, for 12–15 minutes until the daikon and satoimo yield when pressed with the back of a spoon but hold their shape.
4. 4
   Add the momen tofu, broken into rough pieces, and simmer for a final 5 minutes only. Tofu added earlier breaks down into the broth; it should remain in identifiable pieces with a soft but not dissolving texture when pressed gently against the side of the pot.
5. 5
   Season with soy sauce, mirin, and salt. Stir once and taste — the broth should be savoury, clean, and gently sweet, with no single note dominant. Adjust salt in small increments. Seasoning is done at the end precisely because early addition of salt and soy interferes with the water release from root vegetables during the sauté and early simmer.
6. 6
   Ladle into deep bowls. Finish each portion with a thin drizzle of toasted sesame oil and a sprig of mitsuba or a few rounds of spring onion. The toasted sesame oil is applied only at service; its volatile aromatic compounds are best preserved away from cooking heat.