Japanese · soup

Zosui (Rice Simmered in the Hot-Pot Broth)

Zosui (Rice Simmered in the Hot-Pot Broth) reads salinity 6.0, marine & briny 5.6 and umami 5.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Japanese soup, about 14 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 6.0 · Marine & Briny 5.6 · Umami 5.3 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Citrus 2.5 · Herbaceous 2.3 · Richness 2.3 · Allium 1.7 · Sweetness 1.5 · Floral 1.5 · Fruity 1.4 · Earthy 1.3 · Bitterness 0.8 · Sourness 0.7 · Nutty 0.6

What's in it (10)

Time & effort: about 14 min (13 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 137.7 kcal, 5.7 g protein, 0.8 g fat, 24.5 g carbs

Dietary: Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Rinse the cold cooked rice in a sieve under cold running water, rubbing the grains gently with your fingers until the water runs clear, then shake it dry. Washing off the surface starch is what makes zosui a soup with rice in it rather than a porridge; okayu, the porridge, is a different dish cooked from raw grain.
  2. Bring the broth to a simmer with the sake, taste it, and correct it with the usukuchi soy and salt. Because a nabe broth has been concentrating all evening, you may need less than the amounts here or a splash of water instead. Adjust with your tongue, not the measure.
  3. Tip in the rice, bring back to a bare simmer and cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring once, until the grains are heated through and have swollen slightly but still hold their edges.
  4. Turn the heat to its lowest, pour the beaten eggs over the surface in a thin spiral from a height, and count to five before stirring once, gently, with the tip of a chopstick. Cover and take the pan off the heat entirely for 1 minute. The egg should set in soft ribbons suspended through the rice; stirred hard, or boiled, it breaks into grains and clouds the broth.
  5. Ladle into bowls and top with the scallions, mitsuba, torn nori and a scrape of yuzu peel. Zosui is eaten at the end of a hot-pot evening when everyone is already full, and also, in the same bowl, by anyone in the house who is ill.
  6. Substitutions: niban dashi if you are starting fresh can stand in for the broth left in the pot after a nabe; 4 shiso leaves cut into ribbons can stand in for the mitsuba leaves.

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Keep reading: what salinity, marine & briny, umami 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.