Nuppei-jiru or Hachihai-jiru (Tofu Soup with Grated Yam)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 10
About this dish
Hot soy-seasoned broth with matchstick tofu goes into each bowl, then gets a ladle of raw grated nagaimo yam loosened with daikon juice, which spreads softly over the surface.
Read more
This is the formal nuppei style from Iwate's Buddhist cooking, rather than the hachihai variation that thickens the whole pot with potato starch. The name hachihai is linked either to making eight bowls from one block of tofu or to wanting many refills. Gloves help when grating the nagaimo, which can irritate skin, and the topping goes on just before eating.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Soak three dried shiitake in 200ml cold water for 30 minutes.
Squeeze, remove stems, and slice to 2mm. Filter the soaking liquid through a coffee filter and reserve 100ml.
- 2
Cut 150g tofu into matchsticks 5mm square and 4cm long.
Cut green onion and nori separately into fine 2mm strips and set aside.
- 3
Combine 600ml water, 100ml shiitake liquid, and 5g kombu and rest 20 minutes.
Heat over medium-low; when small bubbles form at the edge, remove kombu, add shiitake, and simmer 6 minutes.
- 4
Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 0.6 teaspoon salt, then spread in tofu without breaking it.
Simmer gently for 3 minutes until hot through and reduce to the lowest heat.
- 5
Grate 150g daikon, press in a fine sieve, and collect 80ml juice.
Wearing gloves, peel and finely grate nagaimo, then mix with the daikon juice until loose and even.
- 6
Warm four bowls with hot water and divide tofu, shiitake, and boiling broth evenly.
Immediately ladle grated yam onto each bowl, top with nori and green onion, and eat hot.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
元岩手大学教授 及川桂子氏 · Checked: 2026-08-11
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