Rainy Day Soup

It is probably no surprise to anybody that today was absolutely miserable in the fine city of Vancouver. It was actually raining tigers and wolves. In spite of the torrential downpour and all the racket of the old, crazy Jewish guy next door hammering away on his boat project and rounding up a bunch of stray animals, I actually gathered up the courage to venture out and buy groceries for an amazing feed of Chanko Nabe, which I believe is the perfect thing to eat if you are wet and cold and worried that God is going to wipe the face of the earth clean so He can start all over again.

Quite simply, Chanko Nabe is sumo soup / stew and it is simply ridiculously tasty. I also figure that if it is good enough for this guy...

...then it is good enough for me.

Here is an interesting story if you dig reading extended prose about Asian soup. I know I do! Enough of the jawflapping... on with the recipe!

2 1/2 tsp. instant dashi flakes
1 lb. thinly sliced pork belly
3 tbsp. sake
2 tbsp. mirin (sweet rice wine)
3 tbsp. red miso
3 tbsp. white miso
1 medium carrot, trimmed, peeled, sliced crosswise on the bias, and blanched
2" piece daikon, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise, and blanched
1 medium waxy potato, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise and blanched
1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise, and blanched
10 oz. firm tofu, Cut into 2" cubes
8 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps halved
2 oz. enoki mushrooms, trimmed
1 2.8-oz. package abura-age (deep-fried tofu), cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1/4 head napa cabbage, cored and cut into large pieces
16 bunch nira (flat Chinese chives)
4 cups steamed Japanese short-grain rice or 1 lb. udon noodles (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (optional)

1. Bring 10 cups cold water to a boil in a wide medium pot over high heat. Add dashi flakes, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring until flakes completely dissolve, about 1 minute. Add pork, sake, and mirin to dashi and simmer, skimming any foam that rises to surface, until pork is tender, 15-30 minutes. Dissolve red and white misos in 1 cup broth from pot in a small bowl, then stir back into pot.

2. Add carrots, daikon, potatoes, onions, firm tofu, mushrooms, fried tofu, cabbage, and chives, in that order, and simmer until vegetables are just soft, about 5 minutes. The hot pot is now ready to be eaten "self-serve" style in medium bowls.

3. Once all the pork, vegetables, and tofu have been eaten, use a small sieve to pick out scraps. Bring remaining broth in pot back to a simmer, then add rice or noodles, if using, and stir in eggs, if using. Simmer until broth is absorbed by rice, about 5 minutes, or until noodles are cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Divide between bowls, and munch away until you weigh 400 pounds and have the desire to wear a giant diaper while beating the crap out of someone.