Japanese

Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup)

Name: Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 5 cups dashi stock; 1/2 daikon radish; 1 carrots; 1 gobo; 1/2 konnyaku; 1 block firm tofu; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp sesame oil; 2 scallions

Tomoko @tomoko_osaka

Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup) is Japanese home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the soup. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

30 min Medium High fiber Pescatarian Dairy free

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

5 cups dashi stock
1/2 daikon radish
1 carrots
1 gobo
1/2 konnyaku
1 block firm tofu
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 scallions

How to cook it

Cut the daikon, carrot, gobo, and konnyaku into bite-size pieces.
Heat the sesame oil in a pot and stir-fry the vegetables until glossy, about 4 minutes.
Crumble in the tofu by hand and stir 1 minute.
Pour in the dashi and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 18 minutes.
Season with the soy sauce and top with sliced scallions.

Watch how to cook Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

How To Make Kenchinjiru (Recipe) けんちん汁の作り方（レシピ） Play the video

Serve it with

A Japanese dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

The dish at the centre
- Buri Daikon (Yellowtail and Daikon Simmer)
  
  30 min
The cooked vegetable
- Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Sauce)
  
  20 min
What it is eaten with
- Genmai Gohan (Steamed Brown Rice)
  
  45 min
The sharp little thing
- Beni Shoga (Red Pickled Ginger)
  
  2 min

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup) carries gluten, soy, and fish. It is free of the remaining 7 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup)
Allergen	In this dish	Cook this instead
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	No
Gluten	Yes	Asari no Osuimono (Clear Clam Soup)
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	Yes	Asari no Osuimono (Clear Clam Soup)
Fish	Yes	Asari no Osuimono (Clear Clam Soup)
Sesame	No
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 160 kcal
Protein: 8 g
Carbs: 14 g
Fat: 8 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 680 mg
Saturated fat: 1 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Kenchinjiru (Root Vegetable and Tofu Soup) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. It is at its best in the fall and winter, which is when what goes into it is worth buying.