Mamebu-jiru (Walnut Dumpling Soup)

Quick answer

Total time: 75 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 15

About this dish

Mamebu-jiru is a regional soup from Yamagata-cho in Kuji, Iwate.

A soy-seasoned kombu and niboshi broth holds carrot, burdock, grilled tofu, kanpyo, mushrooms, and small wheat dumplings enclosing walnut. The contrast appears when a mild, chewy dumpling opens to a nutty center inside the savory soup. The dish is linked to flour dumplings that may have replaced celebratory noodles during poor Edo-period harvests and remains part of winter, New Year, wedding, and memorial meals.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
wheat flour	200	g
shelled walnuts	30	g
carrot	70	g
burdock root	80	g
grilled tofu	150	g
aburaage fried tofu	40	g
dried kanpyo gourd strips	10	g
dried shimeji mushrooms	15	g
soy sauce	45	ml
15cm kombu	1	piece
niboshi dried sardines	6	piece
potato starch	5	g
salt	3	g
water for the broth	1400	ml
water for the dumpling dough	100	ml

Instructions

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

7 steps

1

Control

Soak 1 piece kombu and 6 niboshi with heads and guts removed in 1400ml broth water for 20 minutes.

Heat over medium, remove kombu just before boiling, then simmer the niboshi for 5 minutes and remove them all.
2

Heat

Soak 15g dried shimeji and 10g kanpyo separately in warm water for 20 minutes.

Squeeze the shimeji. Boil kanpyo for 8 minutes until tender, rinse, and cut to 1.5cm. Blanch 40g aburaage for 1 minute and shred.
3

Heat

Cut 70g carrot and 80g burdock into 5mm quarter-rounds and rinse the burdock briefly.

Cut 150g grilled tofu into bite-size diamonds. Divide 30g walnuts into small pieces for the dumpling centers.
4

Season

Mix 200g flour with 1g salt and add 100ml dough water gradually, kneading for 7 minutes.

Divide into thumb-tip portions, enclose one walnut piece in each, seal the seams completely, round them, and dust lightly with 5g potato starch.
5

Control

Add carrot, burdock, shimeji, and kanpyo to the broth and simmer over medium heat for 12 minutes.

Add 45ml soy sauce and the remaining 2g salt, then add grilled tofu and aburaage and simmer for 3 minutes.
6

Heat

Keep the broth boiling and add the mamebu dumplings one at a time so they do not stick.

After all float, cook for 4 minutes more. Split the largest dumpling and confirm no dry flour remains and the walnut center is hot.
7

Finish

Check the broth without adding more soy sauce, divide dumplings, root vegetables, and tofu evenly among bowls, and serve hot.

Transfer leftovers to shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Light soy broth made from kombu and niboshi
Finish cue: Boil kanpyo for 8 minutes until tender, rinse, and cut to 1.5cm.
Avoid this: Keep the broth boiling and add the mamebu dumplings one at a time so they do not stick.
Storage and reheating: Transfer leftovers to shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours.