After watching Little Forest yesterday, I never want to eat out again. It’s an absolutely beautiful movie (in 4 acts, one for each season) from Japan that was about food and place in life and how you treat yourself when no one is around.
Tonight, I treated myself to a soup inspired by the movie. I am proud of this soup. Savory, fresh, and pretty.
Ingredients (for 2 bowls of soup)
- 1/2 pound steamer clams
- 3 dried shiitake, rehydrated in 2 cups of water
- 3 scallions, sliced small
- 2 cups dashi broth (bonito and dried kelp)
- splash (~1/2 T) soy sauce
- 1 small baby bok choy, quartered
- 3 garlic shoots, cut into ~1.5 inch pieces
- salt to taste (err under until after the clams)
- rice on the side
Preparation
- Rehydrate mushrooms for a few hours in 2 cups of room temperature water. Set aside 1 cup for the broth and save the other for something else.
- Make 2 cups of dashi. Steep dried kelp in water on the stove until it starts to boil, then take out the kelp. Add bonito flakes, boil for a couple minutes, and steep off-boil for a few more. Strain the broth.
- Back on the stove, combine the 2 cups of dashi, 1 cup of mushroom water, a splash of soy sauce, and a pinch of salt. As you bring it to a boil, add green onion and sliced mushrooms.
- I had garlic shoots and bok choy at home, so I added that too, but whatever you like (or not). The garlic shoots were really nice though, but are seasonal.
- After the veg has cooked at a low boil for a moment or two, add the clams. Boil until they open (2ish minutes), and then you’re done.
- Check if it needs a little more salt, and enjoy!
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