Japanese Clear Soup

This classic Hibachi restaurant favorite is a light and healthy soup to soothe the soul. The prep time is short, but it requires a long simmer to deepen the flavors. I had tried duplicating the flavor several times without success before finding this recipe on aspicyperspective.com.

Ingredients

 2 tsp sesame oil (or peanut oil)

 8 c chicken broth

 4 c beef broth

 4 c water

 1 large Blush onion or other sweet onion, peeled and cut into wedges

 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

 2 large carrots, cut into chunks

 2 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced

 4 whole scallions, chopped

 10 button mushrooms, sliced thin

 salt

Method:

 Place a large 8-quart stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil and place the onion, garlic, carrots, and ginger in the pot.

 Sear the veggies on all sides to caramelize, making sure not to burn the garlic.

 Pour in the chicken broth, beef broth, and water. Bring to a boil.

 Lower the heat to a low boil and simmer for at least one hour.

 Use a skimmer to remove the vegetables from the broth.

 Taste, then salt as needed.

 To serve: ladle hot broth into bowls and sprinkle chopped scallion and sliced mushrooms over the top.

Notes and Options:

In restaurants, this soup is made several days in advance to allow the flavors to deepen. It’s not only a great leftover; it actually tastes better on the second day. If you have time, make it ahead, then rewarm the soup before adding the scallions and mushrooms.

You can add soy sauce to taste to deepen the flavor.

The combination of beef and chicken broth is essential to this soup.

I often make double batches of the broth to freeze. It’s a great soup to pull out of the freezer on a cold day. It’s also a good base for adding some leftover beef and vegetables to for a quick use of leftovers.