Tonjiru

About Tonjiru

Tonjiru — sometimes written butajiru — is a hearty Japanese miso soup loaded with pork and root vegetables, a step up in substance from the everyday miso soup that opens a meal. Where basic miso soup is a light broth with tofu and seaweed, tonjiru is closer to a one-bowl meal, with slices of pork belly and chunks of daikon and carrot simmered in a kombu dashi. It's a cold-weather staple in Japanese homes, valued for being filling and warming without much effort.

The pork is first fried in sesame oil so it renders and deepens before the vegetables and dashi go in, giving the broth a savory, faintly nutty depth beyond the miso alone. Simmering softens the daikon and carrot until they turn sweet and tender, and the miso is whisked in off the heat — never boiled — to keep its fragrance and gentle funk intact. Scattered with scallions, it eats rich but not heavy, the pork fat and root vegetables balanced by the salty-savory miso base. Served hot as a soup course or the center of a simple supper with rice, it's the kind of nourishing bowl that makes a cold evening better.