Ishikari Jiru, I would say, is a “Bowlful of Hokkaido”. The word Ishikari refers to the name of the region where the dish originated and “Jiru” means soup. The dish has Hokkaido’s local produce, such as potatoes, onion, carrots, daikon and so on, and most importantly, locally caught salmon. Hokkaido cuisine can’t be without salmon as it’s been eaten on the island for more than a thousand years. Ishikari Jiru is especially good when you want to have a warm and soothing bowl of soup.
-INGREDIENTS-(Serves 4)
200g salmon
1/4 carrot, peeled
1/8 daikon radish, peeled
1/2 onion, peeled
1 medium sized potato, peeled
1 spring onion
1/2 spring onion, finely chopped (for garnishing)
900ml water (800ml for Kombu dashi powder)
25ml cooking sake
5g dried Kombu or 1 1/2 tsp Kombu dashi powder
4 tbsp Miso
-METHOD-
1. Lightly wipe the Kombu with a dumb cloth and put into a pot with 800ml water. Soak it for 30 mins. If you are using Kombu dashi powder, the soaking process is unnecessary.
2. Cut the salmon into bite-size pieces. Slice the carrot and daikon into 5mm-thick-quarter-round slices. Cut the onion into 5mm slices. Dice the potato into 2cm pieces. Bias-slice the spring onion.
3. Add the carrot and daikon into the pot with the Kombu and the water and start heating on a high heat. Once the water starts to have small bubbles, turn down the heat to the lowest and continue heating for 10 mins, then take out the Kombu. (The reason why we remove the Kombu is to prevent it from boiling, which will cause to release bitterness).
If you are using Kombu dashi powder. Bring the water to a boil after adding the carrot and daikon, then turn the heat down to medium.
4. Add the rest of the vegetables, salmon and sake into the pot and simmer on a medium heat until the vegetables are tender.
5. Turn down the heat to the lowest and slowly dissolve in the Miso using a ladle. A good way to do this is to place the miso in the ladle and scoop some of the cooking liquid, then gently combine the miso and liquid in the ladle using chopsticks or a fork, releasing the mixture slowly into the soup. Do not just drop the miso in the soup as that will make it difficult to dissolve the miso completely.
6. Serve the soup in a soup bowl and garnish with the chopped spring onion.
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