Japanese Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• ½ pack firm tofu/momen tofu (about 200g/7.1oz)
• 50g/1.8oz carrot thinly sliced to 3mm thick (note 1)
• 70g/2.5oz daikon , sliced to 3mm/⅛” thick then into quarters or 1/6 pie shape (note 2)
• 50g/1.8oz shimeji mushrooms , de-clustered to individual or a few tiny bunch of mushrooms
• 100g/3.5oz taro , peeled and cut into bite size pieces
• 125g/4.4oz konnyaku (1/2 pack)
• 500ml/1.1pt boiling water
• 1 stem shallot/scallions , cut to 2.5cm/1″ long
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• ½ tbsp oil

Dashi Broth

• 800ml/1.7pt dashi stock (note 3)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sake
• A pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Wrap the tofu in kitchen paper and place it on a tilted cutting board. Place a small cutting board or a container with a weight in it on the tofu. Leave it for 30 minutes or so. Do this step before preparing the vegetables.
2. Cut konnyaku lengthwise into three equal strips. Then slice each strip perpendicular to the first cut to 5mm thick. Pouer boiling water over the konnyaku pieces. Drain.
3. Cut the pressed tofu into half, horizontal to the cutting board. Cut the two layers of tofu lengthwise to half, then cut to 1.5cm thick perpendicular to the second cut.
4. Add sesame oil and oil in a saucepan and heat over high heat.
5. Put all the vegetables except shallots and tofu into the pan and stir fry until the vegetable pieces are coated in oil (1-1.5 minutes).
6. Add tofu, then the Dashi Broth ingredients. Bring it to a boil, place a lid on and cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through. While cooking, remove the scum from time to time.
7. Add the shallots to the pan and cook for 15 seconds or so, then turn the heat off.
8. Serve while hot.