Nishime — Simmered New Year Vegetables

Ingredients

• 300 g renkon (lotus root), peeled, sliced into 1 cm rounds; hexagonal cuts optional for presentation
• 200 g gobo (burdock root), scrubbed, cut on the diagonal into 5 cm lengths
• 200 g konnyaku, torn or cut into pieces; twisted konnyaku (neji-konnyaku) for presentation
• 300 g satoimo (taro), peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces; mentori (corners chamfered) to prevent breaking
• 150 g carrot, peeled; hana-giri (flower cuts) for presentation
• 150 g takenoko (bamboo shoot, tinned or fresh-cooked), cut into wedges
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in cold water until fully rehydrated; soaking liquid reserved
• 2 abura-age (thin deep-fried tofu), blanched in boiling water to remove excess oil, cut into rectangles
• For the nishime dashi
• 800 ml dashi, first dashi (ichiban dashi)
• 80 ml soy sauce
• 80 ml mirin
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp sugar, nishime dashi is slightly sweeter than standard nimono dashi

Method

1. 1
   Prepare all vegetables as noted. Chamfer the corners of satoimo pieces (mentori) to prevent crumbling during long simmering. Cut carrots with a flower cutter (hana-giri). Twist konnyaku pieces where possible (neji-konnyaku). Soak shiitake in cold water until the caps are fully plump and yielding; reserve the soaking liquid. Blanch abura-age briefly in boiling water, then drain. All prepared vegetables should be clean-edged, dry, and uniform in size before any heat is applied.
2. 2
   Combine dashi, reserved shiitake soaking liquid (strained), soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar in a wide, heavy pot. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring once to dissolve the sugar. Taste: the seasoning should be assertive — more forward than a daily nimono — because the dish will be consumed over three days and flavours must remain present as the vegetables absorb liquid.
3. 3
   Add gobo and renkon first, as they require the longest cooking. Simmer, partially covered, until the burdock begins to lose its raw resistance and the lotus root is just tender at the tip of a skewer but still firm in the centre. Add satoimo and takenoko next; continue simmering. Add carrot, konnyaku, and rehydrated shiitake in the following stage. Add abura-age last. At each addition, ensure the liquid continues to simmer gently — a rolling boil will break the soft items and cloud the broth.
4. 4
   This is where the dish lives or dies: continue simmering, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the liquid is almost entirely absorbed and the vegetables are coated in a glossy glaze. No pool of liquid should remain in the pot. The vegetables should shine — lacquered, not wet — and when the pot is tilted, only the faintest trace of syrupy liquid should appear at the edge. A dish left sitting in liquid has failed the defining technique of nishime.
5. 5
   Remove from heat and allow the vegetables to rest in the pot, uncovered, until they reach room temperature. The flavours will continue to equalise as the dish cools. Arrange in a lacquer jubako box or serving dish, grouping each vegetable type together for visual clarity — nishime is a presentation dish and the colour contrast of carrot, lotus root, burdock, and greened shiitake is part of its purpose.