Japanese · soup
Tonjiru (Pork Belly and Root Vegetable Miso Soup)
Tonjiru (Pork Belly and Root Vegetable Miso Soup) reads funk & ferment 4.6, umami 4.4 and nutty 3.7 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Japanese soup, about 38 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.
The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10
- Umami & Savory — 5.4 / 10
- Sweet & Fruity — 2.6 / 10
- Sour & Bright — 0.8 / 10
- Bitter & Earthy — 1.3 / 10
- Rich & Fat — 4.7 / 10
- Aromatic & Spice — 3.3 / 10
The measured notes (of 18)
Funk & Ferment 4.6 · Umami 4.4 · Nutty 3.7 · Salinity 3.4 · Richness 3.4 · Allium 3.0 · Warm Spice 2.2 · Sweetness 2.2 · Fruity 1.2 · Earthy 1.2 · Floral 1.0 · Herbaceous 0.8 · Sourness 0.7
What's in it (13)
- thinly sliced pork belly — 250 g
- sesame oil — 14 g
- fresh ginger — 20 g
- daikon radish — 250 g
- carrot — 120 g
- burdock root — 100 g
- konnyaku — 120 g
- abura-age — 30 g
- niban dashi — 1200 g
- sake — 15 g
- miso paste — 80 g
- green onion — 80 g
- shichimi togarashi — 1 g
Time & effort: about 38 min · effort: medium
Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 20.9 kcal, 0.7 g protein, 0.9 g fat, 2.9 g carbs
Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.
How it's cooked (5 steps)
- Heat the sesame oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat and fry the pork belly with the grated ginger for 4 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the edges are browning. Do not drain the fat off; it is the difference between tonjiru and an ordinary miso soup with vegetables in it.
- Add the daikon, carrot, drained gobo, konnyaku and abura-age and stir in the pork fat for 4 to 5 minutes, until everything is glossed and the daikon looks wet rather than chalky.
- Pour in the dashi and sake, bring to a boil, then turn down and skim the grey foam carefully for the first 2 minutes. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the daikon is translucent all the way through and a slice gives no resistance.
- Turn the heat down so the surface barely moves. Put the miso in a ladle, lower it into the soup and mash it against the ladle with chopsticks until it dissolves into the broth. Never let miso boil: above about 80 C its aroma compounds go and what is left is only salt.
- Add the negi and take the pot off the heat at once. Serve with shichimi togarashi. This is winter food, made in a big pot, better on the second day, and in Japan it is what turns a bowl of rice into a meal when there is nothing else in the house.
Dishes with a similar flavor shape
- Miso Ramen with Soft-Boiled Egg — Japanese
- Congee with Century Egg and Pork (Pei Daan Sau Yuk Juk) — Chinese · Cantonese
- Dry-Fried Green Beans (Gan Bian Si Ji Dou) — Chinese · Sichuan
- Potstickers (锅贴) — Chinese
- Cashew Chicken — Chinese-American
Keep reading: what funk & ferment, umami, nutty mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.
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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.