Zosui is a comforting Japanese rice soup cooked in a savory dashi broth with vegetables,
eggs, mushrooms, and sometimes meat or seafood. It's a nourishing meal that helps refuel your energy. With pantry ready ingredients, you can easily make it in no time! 

Zosui (Japanese Rice Soup)

INGREDIENTS

For Broth

• 3 cups dashi (I use 3 cups water + 1 dashi packet)
• 2 tsp soy sauce (I used Usukuchi (Light Color Soy Sauce))
• ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

For Zosui

• 6 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs (170 g, 6 oz)
• 1 inch carrot (40 g, 1.4 oz)
• 2 shiitake mushrooms (80 g, 2.8 oz)
• 2 green onions/scallions
• 1 ½ rice bowls cooked Japanese short-grain rice (200 g, 7 oz; 1 Rice Cooker Cup (180 ml / 150 g) yields 330 g of cooked rice, which is about 2 bowls of rice (150 g per bowl))
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp toasted white sesame seeds
• ⅛ tsp white pepper powder

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Gather all the ingredients.
   

To Prepare the Dashi

1. In a large pot (I used a donabe), add dashi broth. If you are making dashi from scratch, here’s the direction (https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi/). In this recipe, I show you how to make dashi using a dashi packet. Add water and a dashi packet in the donabe.
2. Cover the lid and slowly bring water to boil on low heat. After a few minutes, open the lid and shake the bag to release more flavors.
3. Close the lid and continue to heat the broth. Once boiling, cook for 3 minutes and discard the dashi packet. Keep the lid closed and set aside.

To Prepare the Ingredients

1. Remove the excess fat from the chicken and cut it into small bite-sized pieces.
2. Discard the tough stem of shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice the caps.
3. Cut the carrot into quarters lengthwise and thinly slice them.
4. Cut the green onions into thin pieces and put them in a small bowl. We use them as a garnish at the end.
5. If you’re using cold cooked rice, put it in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse the rice under running water to remove excess starch. Shake and drain well. If you’re using freshly made rice, you can skip this process.

To Cook Zosui

1. In a hot dashi broth, add the chicken.
2. Close the lid and bring it to boil on medium-low heat. Once boiling, skim the scum and foam on the surface.
3. Add the carrot and cook covered until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
4. Once the carrot is tender, add soy sauce and salt to the broth.
5. Add the shiitake mushrooms and well-drained cooked rice. Cover to cook for 10 minutes.
6. Beat the egg in a bowl.
7. Slowly drizzle a small amount of the beaten egg over the soup surface, which will create a fluffy texture.
8. Add some of the green onion and sesame seeds. Sprinkle white pepper powder at the end.
9. Cover with the lid and bring the pot to the table to serve into individual bowls.

 

https://www.justonecookbook.com/zosui-japanese-rice-soup/