Japanese Clear Soup With Shrimp |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes |
Ready In: 25 Minutes Servings: 10 |
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A clear broth, this soup makes an excellent appetizer soup. Ingredients:
2 qt dashi (separately listed) |
salt to taste |
1 tbsp japanese soy sauce |
lemon zest 1-2 strips, for garnish |
15 each snow peas for garnish |
10 each medium shrimp for garnish |
Directions:
1. Bring the dashi to a simmer. Carefully add salt to taste.
2. Do not boil rapidly, as this will cause the broth to cloud.
3. Add soy sauce. (The soup should be crystal clear.)
4. Cut lemon zest into very fine julienne.
5. Trim and wash the snow peas.
6. Cut them crosswise at an angle, making diamond shapes.
7. Blanch them 1 minute in boiling water. Drain and cool.
8. Peel and devein the shrimp.
9. Blanch them in boiling water just until cooked, no more than 1 minute.
10. Drain.
11. Rinse soup cups or bowls in hot water to warm them.
12. In each bowl put 1 shrimp, a few pieces of snow peas, and a few threads of lemon zest.
13. Make sure that the soup is very hot—almost at the boiling point—and ladle 6 oz into each bowl.
14. Serve at once.
15. ===============================================
16. Variations:
17. Garnish: Clear soup garnish can be varied considerably.
18. Always use just a few carefully chosen items.
19. Don't clutter the bowl.
20. The effect should be like an elegant little still-life painting seen through the perfectly clear soup.
21. All cutting should be done carefully and neatly.
22. Garnish items include:
23. Tofu, cut in small cubes
24. Cooked pork loin or chicken breast, cut in small dice, batonnet, or julienne
25. Lobster tail, in thin slices
26. Cooked fish, separated into flakes (use a type that separates into large, firm flakes, such as snapper or cod)
27. Small clams, steamed and removed from shell (the broth can be clarified, diluted, and used for soup base instead of dashi)
28. Carrots, cut julienne
29. Fresh white mushrooms, sliced thin
30. Dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, simmered, and cut into julienne
31. Wakame (a type of seaweed); soak until soft, cut into small pieces and discard the hard ribs, and simmer in the soup 2 minutes
32. Chinese cabbage, shredded
33. Watercress leaves
34. Fresh ginger root, cut into fine shreds (use only a few shreds per serving)
35. Bamboo shoots, sliced thin
36. White radish, sliced thin or shredded
37. ===============================================
38. Miso Soup
39. Miso soup is made simply by dissolving miso (fermented paste made of soybeans, barley, and/or rice) in dashi.
40. The two main categories of miso are white miso, which is actually light yellowish in color and has a sweet, mild taste, and red or dark miso which comes in varying shades of reddish brown and is stronger and saltier in taste.
41. General proportions for soup are 4 tbsp red miso or 6 tbsp white miso, per quart of dashi.
42. Put the miso in a small bowl and carefully stir in a ladleful of hot dashi.
43. Stir until completely lump-free.
44. Add enough dashi so the miso is thin and pourable.
45. (Do not add miso directly to soup, or it will not mix in properly.)
46. Carefully stir the dissolved miso into the remaining hot dashi.
47. Season to taste and, if desired, add 1-2 tsp soy sauce.
48. Add desired garnish as for clear soup, except that the garnish can be added directly to the soup kettle.
49. Because this is a heartier soup, it is more often garnished with tofu and vegetables than more delicate seafood.
50. Stir before serving, as the miso settles out.
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