Osumashi (clear fish broth soup) is usually served to celebrate something and is almost always served with traditional kaiseki ryori. It is often served with sushi and New Year’s food, as well as other medetai (celebratory) meals. My 100th post is coming up so I wanted to celebrate with my first sushi and osumashi build-a-meal.
Ingredients (Servings 2)
10 grams of katsuobushi
2 cups of water water
3/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt (less if using iodized salt)
1.5 tablespoons of sake
1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce
4 (1/4 inch) slices of kamaboko (fish cake, any kind will do. The spiral ones are fun too)
4 pieces of carrots (1/8 to 1/4 inch), sliced and cut into shapes
lemon zest
6 slices (approx 1/3 of a package) of tofu cut at angles (3 slices for each person)
mitsuba for garnish
Directions
1) Make dashijiru. You can follow the basic dashijiru recipe I have but I altered the ingredients in this recipe for two serving and added a little extra katsuobushi to celebrate!
2) After you have drained the dashijiru, add the broth back into a pot and add the salt and soy sauce.
3) Cut the carrots into shapes. These small touches make this soup special. I used a cutter specifically for this but if you have mad knife skills, free hand it.
4) Cut 2 slices of kamaboko (fish cake) for each person.
5) Add the kamaboko and carrots and put them into the dashijiru. Cook on low heat so it’s barely simmering. You don’t want your precious soup to boil away and lose it’s delicate katsuobushi flavor. The carrots should be firm but not crunchy. This should only take about 2-3 minutes.
6) Add the tofu and allow it to heat through. You can use any kind of tofu but I think kinugoshi (silken tofu) works the best. I say that but I’m using momen (firm tofu) here.
7) Add the sake immediately before serving unless you need to make sure that the alcohol has evaporated. You shouldn’t taste any alcohol although adding it last allows it to maintain its flavor.
8) To make the lemon zest garnish, Cut off a 1×0.5 inch piece of lemon zest. Peel off the white part(there is a name for it but I’m drawing a blank) and cut off the edges so you have a rectangle. Cut two slits into them to form the letter N and twist to make a triangle.(See photos below)
9) Serve into bowls and garnish with lemon zest and mitsuba.
Cut carrots into flower shapes. This one is a ume blossom. If you’re wondering why it looks yellow, it’s because it is. My friend grew this in her garden…I forgot what variety of carrot it is.
Add the carrots and kamaboko into the dashijiru and simmer on the lowest heat setting until the carrots are cooked. They should be firm but not crunchy.
Add the tofu. I like to cut long triangular pieces. I think it makes this soup fancier.
Cut the white part of the lemon zest off.
Cut two slits and create the letter “N” (this one is backwards but it doesn’t matter).
Twist the ends up and create a triangle.
Osmashi served.
Eat with Sushi Cake and Beets with Tofu sauce.
Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
