Tara Jappa-jiru (Whole-Cod Miso Soup)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 90 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 10 servings
- Ingredients
- 8
About this dish
Tara jappa-jiru is a Tsugaru winter soup from Aomori that uses the head, backbone, skin, organs, roe, or milt left after filleting a whole cod.
Read more
Carefully cleaned parts simmer in a large pot with kombu, daikon, carrot, sake, and water before miso seasons the broth. Jappa means parts usually discarded in the Tsugaru dialect, but the dish turns an entire cold-water cod into a deeply flavored meal without waste. Liver is mashed into the soup near the end for mellow richness, and exceptionally fresh milt is especially prized. Cod was the year-end fish of Tsugaru, so essential to New Year that the phrase tara shogatsu, cod New Year, emerged. Families once bought a whole large fish and dragged it home over snowy roads. A generous ten-serving pot warms a household in midwinter.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Heat
Wipe the kombu with a damp cloth and soak in 2000 ml water for 30 minutes.
Heat gently and remove the kombu just before boiling.
- 2Prep
Split the cod head lengthwise and cut the backbone into 5 to 7 cm pieces.
Discard gills, gallbladder, and gut contents; rinse fresh edible liver, roe, or milt repeatedly in cold water and keep separate.
- 3Heat
Pour boiling water over the head, bones, and skin, then rinse immediately in cold water to remove blood clots and scales.
Chop the liver for later mashing and leave roe or milt in large pieces.
- 4Heat
Cut the daikon into 1 cm quarter-rounds, carrot into 7 mm half-moons, and leeks diagonally at 1 cm.
Bring the kombu stock to a boil with the cod head, bones, and skin.
- 5Control
Skim thoroughly when boiling, then add daikon, carrot, and sake.
Simmer with the lid ajar over medium-low for 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender and cod flesh releases from bone.
- 6Control
Add roe or milt, if present, and cook 5 minutes.
Dissolve miso in two ladles of broth, add with the mashed liver, and simmer gently 3 to 5 minutes, until every cod part reaches at least 63°C.
- 7Finish
Add the leeks and cook only 1 minute.
Divide broth and solids among ten bowls, keeping large head and backbone pieces visible so diners can remove flesh safely. Serve hot.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Cod head, backbone, skin, and edible organs are cleaned separately.
- Finish cue
- Simmer with the lid ajar over medium-low for 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender and cod flesh releases from bone.
- Storage and reheating
- Use only liver, roe, or milt separated for food and kept refrigerated by a specialist; discard all organs if the gallbladder ruptures or odor is abnormal.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official food safety guidance.
This recipe
90min, 8 ingredients
Category median
45min, 8 ingredients
Based on 242 recipes
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