Senbei-jiru (Nanbu Cracker and Chicken Soup)

Name: Senbei-jiru (Nanbu Cracker and Chicken Soup)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: soup-use Nanbu wheat crackers 8 pieces; green onions 1.5 stalks; chicken breast 200 g; chicken thigh 200 g; thread konnyaku 160 g; ita-fu wheat gluten 10 g; burdock root 100 g; freeze-dried tofu 1 piece; carrot 60 g; soy sauce 80 ml; sake 40 ml; white miso 20 g; salt 1 g; water 2000 ml

Quick answer

Total time: 60 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 14

About this dish

Nanbu wheat crackers broken by hand into a soy-seasoned broth of chicken, burdock and vegetables soften at the edges as they drink up the liquid, while their centers stay chewy.

In the Hachinohe area of Aomori, crackers have long gone into soup this way. Snack crackers tend to dissolve, and the ones sold for soup are used instead.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

soup-use Nanbu wheat crackers8 pieces

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green onions1½ stalks

freeze-dried tofu1 piece

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Instructions

6 steps

1

Warm 400ml of the 2000ml water and soak 1 freeze-dried tofu piece and 10g ita-fu separately for 10 minutes.

When soft, press out water between the palms, cut the tofu into 1cm strips, and cut the fu into 3cm lengths.
2

Cut 200g chicken breast and 200g chicken thigh into 3cm bites.

Slice 1.5 green onion stalks diagonally 1cm wide. Shave 100g burdock, soak in cold water for 5 minutes, and drain. Cut 60g carrot into sturdy 4cm strips.
3

Parboil 160g thread konnyaku for 2 minutes to reduce its odor, then drain.

If the strands are very long, cut them into manageable 10cm lengths.
4

Put the remaining 1600ml water and all chicken in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

Skim foam thoroughly, lower to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes. Confirm the thickest chicken piece reaches at least 74°C.
5

Add the burdock, carrot, thread konnyaku, freeze-dried tofu, and ita-fu and simmer for 8 minutes.

Add 80ml soy sauce and 40ml sake. Dissolve 20g white miso in a ladle of broth, return it to the pot, add 1g salt, and simmer 2 minutes.
6

Break each of the 8 soup-use Nanbu crackers by hand into 4 pieces and add them to the pot.

Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, until the edges absorb broth and soften while the centers remain chewy. Add the green onion, cook 1 minute more, and divide hot among four bowls.