Hittsumi (Hand-Torn Wheat Dumpling Soup)

Quick answer

Total time: 80 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients: 9

About this dish

Hittsumi is a local soup from southern Aomori.

A rested bread-flour dough is stretched thin with the fingers, torn directly into dashi simmering with chicken, burdock, carrot, and green onion, and cooked until springy. Its name is associated with the pulling and pinching motion rather than rolling and cutting noodles. Keeping the edge thin and the center slightly thicker gives both tender and chewy textures in one bowl. Cook the chicken through first, then continue simmering the floating dumplings until no raw flour remains before serving the soup piping hot.

Ingredients (8 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
bread flour	500	g
water for dough	370	ml
boneless chicken thigh	225	g
carrot	150	g
burdock root	150	g
Japanese green onion	180	g
dashi stock	2000	ml
sake	1	tbsp
soy sauce	6	tbsp

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Control

Mix 500g bread flour with 330ml water using chopsticks.

Add the remaining water one tablespoon at a time until the dough gathers, knead 8 minutes, cover, and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
2

Prep

Cut chicken to 2cm, carrot to 4mm half-moons, burdock diagonally to 3mm, and green onion to 1cm.

Soak cut burdock in cold water for 5 minutes and drain.
3

Control

Bring dashi, burdock, and carrot to a boil in a large pot.

Simmer 8 minutes, add chicken and sake, skim, and cook 6 to 8 minutes until the chicken center reaches 75C.
4

Heat

With lightly wet hands, take bite-size portions of dough.

Stretch edges to 1 to 2mm while leaving the center about 3mm thick, tear to 5cm lengths, and drop one at a time into the boiling broth.
5

Control

After each addition, sweep the pot bottom gently with a ladle so pieces do not stick.

Once all pieces float, simmer 4 minutes more and split the thickest one to confirm no dry flour remains.
6

Season

Add 6 tablespoons of soy sauce and the scallion and boil for 2 minutes.

Once the dough, chicken, and vegetables are evenly distributed, divide among warm bowls.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Bread-flour dough rested for 30 minutes
Finish cue: Add 6 tablespoons of soy sauce and the scallion and boil for 2 minutes.
Avoid this: After each addition, sweep the pot bottom gently with a ladle so pieces do not stick.
Substitution: Cover it for another 10 minutes instead of forcing it, then stretch again.