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1
Place the rinsed chicken carcasses and bones in a large heavy pot. Cover with 3 litres of cold water and bring slowly to the boil over medium heat. As the water rises to a simmer, skim the surface repeatedly and thoroughly until no further grey foam rises — this stage determines the ultimate clarity and cleanliness of the mizutaki dashi. No seasoning, no aromatics, and no dashi additions are used at any point.
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2
Reduce the heat to a steady, gentle simmer and continue cooking uncovered for three to four hours, adding water as needed to keep the bones submerged. This is where the dish lives or dies: only full collagen extraction from bones and cartilage — achieved through patient, uninterrupted simmering — produces the characteristically rich, milky-white stock that is mizutaki no dashi. At less than three hours the broth will be thin and pale; at three to four hours it will be opaque, slightly viscous, and carry a pronounced natural sweetness. Taste for body: the broth should coat the lips faintly when sipped from a spoon.
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3
Strain the finished dashi through a fine sieve into a clean pot, pressing lightly on the solids. Discard the spent bones. The strained dashi should appear milky-white and slightly cloudy — not grey or thin. Ladle the hot broth into small cups, season each with a pinch of fine salt at table, and serve as the meal's opening course before any ingredient is placed in the pot. Each diner drinks this first broth alone, as the pure expression of chicken bone flavour that gives mizutaki its philosophical foundation.
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4
Transfer the strained dashi to a donabe clay pot set over a portable table burner. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add the raw chicken skin first, then add the firm tofu and the softened fu, followed by the Chinese cabbage stems. Allow the pot to return to a simmer before the next addition — the sturdy, slower-cooking items must enter before the softer vegetables to maintain even cooking and preserve broth clarity. The cabbage should be beginning to soften and translucent at its edges when the next stage begins.
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5
Add the bone-in chicken thigh pieces, breast pieces, and neck cartilage to the simmering pot. Cook at a low simmer — not a rolling boil, which would cloud the broth and toughen the meat. The chicken is ready when the pieces are cooked through and the meat begins to pull very slightly from the bone when pressed with chopsticks. Add the spring onion lengths in the final minute. Each diner takes pieces from the communal pot and dips them in ponzu, finishing with momiji-oroshi, sliced spring onion, and a squeeze of yuzu.
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6
When the main eating is complete, add the cooked rice to the remaining broth in the donabe. Stir gently and bring to a quiet simmer. The broth at this stage will have concentrated and deepened through the meal. Pour the beaten egg in a slow, steady stream across the surface, cover for thirty seconds, then remove the lid. The zosui is ready when the egg has just set to a soft, silken finish across the rice — the porridge should be loose, not thick. Scatter sliced spring onion over the surface and serve immediately from the pot.