Japanese Clear Soup

If you remember, I got these 'soup balls' as part of my Lucky Bag on New Years Day. You can read the post here.

Google Translate and an internet search have failed to determine what these actually are. I do know they are made from wheat and go in a clear soup or consommé based on what I can decipher of the back of the package with Google Translate. The next step was to find an appropriate soup recipe. I found a recipe for Japanese Clear Soup on A Spicy Perspective Blog. Here is the link: www.aspicyperspective.com/japanese-clear-soup-recipe/

Time to get cooking. I roughly chopped onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. I then placed them into a stock pot with some pre-warmed sesame oil to 'sear' them.

I am not sure I actually seared the veggies. I was worried about burning the garlic so I added chicken and beef broth once I noticed the onions turning translucent.

Everything was left to simmer for 1 hour and then I used a strainer placed over a bowl to remove the veggies.

The end product was a dark brown soup. I sprinkled some chopped green onions on top. The recipe also says to put sliced mushrooms on top, but I am not a fan of mushrooms so I left them out.

Time to add the 'soup ball'. I used a knife to poke holes in the bottom of the ball before I placed it on the soup. It had the consistency of styrofoam.

We ended up pushing the ball down into the soup with our spoons to speed up the softening process. The ball became doughy and we used the side of our spoons to separate bite sized portions off. It was not easy to do as the ball wanted to stay together.

The soup itself was a good simple soup. I could see making it again if I had an upset stomach or was doing a multiple course Japanese style dinner. The 'soup ball' tasted fine. I now think of it as a type of dumpling. It had a mild bread dough-like flavor. Unfortunately, it had an odd texture...kind of like there were lots of small air pockets inside of it. I wasn't a big fan of the texture. We had left over soup and will reheat it and use some of the remaining 'soup balls' another night. I don't see myself buying the 'soup balls' if I find them while out shopping though.

If you didn't follow the above link, here is the recipe:

Japanese Clear Soup Recipe

Adapted from A Spicy Perspective Blog

Note: I halved the listed recipe and did not add the mushrooms

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sesame or peanut oil

8 cups chicken broth

4 cups beef broth

4 cups water

1 large sweet onion- peeled and chopped into large pieces

3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

4 whole scallions, chopped

10 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

salt to taste

Instructions

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil and place the onion, garlic, carrots, and ginger in the pot. Sear the veggies. Add the chicken broth, beef broth, and water. Simmer for an hour or more. Strain the vegetables away from the broth. Taste the broth, and add salt as needed. Pour hot broth into bowls and with sprinkle chopped scallion and sliced mushrooms.