A popular recipe from Hokkaido, Sanpeijiru is a wonderful salted salmon soup with a variety of hearty root vegetables cooked in a kombu dashi broth. You‘ll enjoy this delicate and tasty soup on a cold day!
If’ you had a chance to visit the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido (北海道), did you try the popular regional salmon soup called Sanpeijiru (三平汁)? I’ve had it several times during my visit and it is fabulous!
As many of you know, winter in Hokkaido is very cold and a bowl of piping hot soup with salmon is a great way to keep yourself warm.
What is Sanpeijiru?
Sanpeijiru is a salt-flavor-based soup popular in Hokkaido, and it is enjoyed at both home and restaurants. I love ordering this soup at sushi restaurants whenever I visit Hokkaido.
Hokkaido is known for its delicious salmon and potatoes. For this recipe, salmon, potatoes, daikon radish, carrot, and Negi (leeks/scallion) are cooked in kombu dashi broth. Some people put Konnyaku (Konjac) and other root vegetables in the recipe as well.
Also, herring, cod, or Hokke (Okhotsk atka mackerel) are sometimes used instead of salmon, but I haven’t had a chance to try the soup with other fish besides salmon.
Origin of the Name – Sanpeijiru
For a regional recipe like this, I try to share a little bit of background story with the recipe. If you’re wondering about the origin of this recipe name, there are 3 theories about where it came from.
First of all, jiru (汁) in Japanese means “soup”. Sanpei (三平) is a pretty common name for males back in the samurai days.
- The first theory is a Nanbu feudal warrior named Sanpei Saito was cast ashore on Okushiri Island, he served this soup to his workers and the soup which later on received his name.
- The second theory is a fisherman named Sanpei made this soup for the feudal lord of Matsumae and it was named after the fisherman.
- The last theory is that soup was served in Sanpei-zara dish (plate, 三平皿, image courtesy).
No one knows which theory is true, but the interesting fact is that all these theories came from the late Edo period, which means Sanpeijiru has been around for over 200 years.
Difference between Sanpeijiru and Ishikari Nabe
If you’re familiar with Hokkaido’s regional foods, you might realize that Sanpeijiru is very similar to another of Hokkaido’s popular dishes, Ishikari Nabe (石狩鍋). Here is a quick glance at the differences:
Sanpeijiru
- It’s soup.
- The main ingredients are salmon scraps (bones, belly, head, etc).
- You can add Salted Salmon (塩鮭), but it is optional.
- Besides salmon, herring, cod, or hokke are used.
- The soup is usually salt flavor and seasoned with sake and salt only.
- Serve as the main dish or as a replacement for miso soup (which means to accompany rice and the main dish).
Ishikari Nabe
- It’s a hot pot (nabe).
- Use raw salmon (生鮭).
- The hot pot broth is a miso flavor.
- The hot pot ingredients include salmon scraps, tofu, onion, cabbage, potatoes, daikon radish, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and long green onion (Tokyo negi).
- Some add sake lees, butter, and milk (dairy is Hokkaido’s top produce).
- Sprinkle sansho powder to enjoy.
Cooking with Salmon Scraps
For many fish in Japan, the Japanese eat all parts of the fish from the head, the skin, and of course the meat. Salmon is one of these fish that we can use entire fish for cooking. If you purchase or catch a whole salmon, this recipe is a wonderful way to enjoy salmon scraps (as I said earlier, those are the main ingredients for this soup!).
For those of you who don’t fish or deal with fish, go to a reputable fishmonger and ask for salmon scraps or sometimes called “fish chowder” as they usually keep them in the back. Japanese grocery stores also sell salmon scraps, so look for a package that says “Ara” (あら) or “Kiriotoshi” (切り落とし).
If you can’t find salmon scraps, use salmon fillet; but remember, you need to use Salted Salmon instead of raw salmon. You can make it yourself (My recipe here) or buy one from Japanese grocery stores. The package should say “salted” salmon.
Back to salmon scraps. Salmon is very delicious, but remember that oil from salmon is quite smelly and you definitely don’t want that in your soup.
My mom (who taught me this recipe) pour boiling water over the salmon to remove the fishy smell and some of the saltiness. However, when I did the same method with the salmon I got in the US, the final soup still had a strong fishy taste. Instead, I decided to blanch the salmon for 30 seconds and it worked perfectly. There is no strong fishy smell in the soup!
I hope this tip is helpful when you make your soup!
Other Delicious Soup Recipes
- 16 Cozy and Nutritious Japanese Soups to Make at Home
- Tonjiru (Japanese Pork and Vegetable Miso Soup)
- Japanese Glass Noodle Soup (Harusame Soup)
- Cold Miso Soup (Hiyajiru)
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Sanpeijiru (Japanese Salmon Soup)
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon scraps (approximately; the amount doesn‘t need to be exact; read more about salmon scraps (ara or kiriotoshi in Japanese) in the blog post)
- 3 fillets Homemade Japanese Salted Salmon
- 4 cups water
- 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) (2 x 3 inches, 5 x 8 cm per piece)
- 8 inches daikon radish
- 1 carrot
- 2 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) (or 4 scallions/green onions)
- 2 potatoes (I use Yukon gold potatoes as they don‘t break easily compared to russet potatoes)
- 4 Tbsp sake
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Blanch the Salmon
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut 1 lb salmon scraps into pieces about 2–3 inches (5–8 cm).
- Cut 3 fillets Homemade Japanese Salted Salmon in half crosswise.
- When the water is boiling, blanch the salmon scraps and salted salmon fillets for 30 seconds. This will help get rid of the odor and remove some of the saltiness. Read my blog post about why this step is essential.
- Drain and rinse each salmon piece with water to get rid of the fat, protein (the white stuff), and sometimes scales. It’s important to get rid of the smelly oil. Read more about it in the post.
- Put all the salmon in a large pot and add 4 cups water.
To Cook the Sanpeijiru
- Add 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) and cover with the lid. Slowly bring it to boil so that the kombu has time to release its umami.
- Meanwhile, peel and cut 8 inches daikon radish in quarters lengthwise. Then, thinly cut crosswise into quarter slices.
- Peel and slice 1 carrot into thin rounds (or halves or quarters, depending on the size).
- Cut 2 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) or 4 green onion/scallions diagonally into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces. All the vegetables, except for the potatoes, are now ready to go.
- When the soup is almost boiling, remove the kombu (you can reserve it for another use). Kombu gets slimy and releases a bitter taste in boiling water, so we remove it right before boiling. Using a fine-mesh sieve, skim the foam, fat, and scum floating on the surface of the soup. This is very important to achieve a nice, clean flavor. Some people cook the vegetables first and then add the salmon, but I prefer to cook the salmon first so it’s easier to clean the soup before adding the vegetables.
- Once the soup is clean, add the vegetables. Cover with the lid and continue to cook until the vegetables are almost tender (80% done).
- Meanwhile, peel 2 potatoes and remove the potato eyes (sprouts) if there are any.
- Cut the potato into bite-size cubes (I cut each potato into 8 pieces) and soak in water to remove the starch.
- When the daikon is semi-translucent and tender (no more raw, hard parts), add the potatoes. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes until the potatoes become tender (depending on their size).
- With the fine-mesh sieve, scoop more fat and foam, if there is any.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add 4 Tbsp sake and 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Add more salt if necessary. The saltiness depends on the salmon, so be sure to taste the soup before seasoning. Serve hot in individual bowls and enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container or in a pot and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
So do I just add miso to the broth if I want to make Ishikari nabe, Nami san?
I don’t usually blanch the salmon head but simply ask my fish monger to cut it up into 4-6 pcs then I simply gave it a rinse w/ cooking sake then salt it for 24hrs. After that I simply use it to make soup. My family (my mom, daughter, me & my son) love our fish soup milky so I usually simply sear the salmon head pcs in a Korean earthened pot because it’s nonstick then add water and a large piece of ginger if it’s fishy. However we found fresh salmon heads aren’t that fishy. So I was wondering if I can use the same ingredients for sanpeijiru to make nabe. What do you think Nami san?
Hi Ima! I apologize for my late response. Sure! That sounds delicious, and yes add miso if you like – it adds nice flavor.
Great recipe! Thank you!
Thank you for trying this recipe, Vera!
Hello Nami,
I’ve been trying some of your recipes and i love all of it….
I’m still learning to cook properly in the kitchen now and will try to make the Sanpeijiru tomorrow! wish me luck 🙂
Also, thank you for sharing the recipes…. it really makes me want to visit Japan again…
Hi Bryan! Thank you so much for trying out my recipes! So happy to hear you enjoy cooking them. I apologize for my late response (was traveling in London last week). Hope your Sanpeijiru went well. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this. Will you have a video for this? Thanks
Hi Amy! I remember Mr. JOC and I discussed about filming this recipe, and we both agreed to skip as Sanpeijiru is not so well-known. Unfortunately, not too many people search the term. We’re trying to make videos that everyone searches and need guidance for. We’re sorry we can’t make videos for all the recipes… As we have limited time, we have to pick and choose which recipes get a video… 🙁
I did not use potatoes, but it is so good. Next time, I would double the amount of daikon radish. Yes, I would make this again. Thanks Nami!
Hi Gwen! Yay! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for making this dish! 🙂
I live close to a Japanese grocery store, Isetan, so I’m trying to learn to make as many savory Japanese dishes as I can. I’ve made this soup three times and and it is light yet tasty. I like how my kitchen doesn’t smell oily or fishy after cooking this.
Would Japanese mothers feed this to their toddlers even though it has sake? At what age would Japanese children generally start drinking and eating this soup?
Hi Umi! Yes, most of Japanese foods have sake as an ingredient, but it evaporates quickly after cooking, so it should have no alcohol by the time it’s consumed. If sake is used and not cooked, probably better to be avoided. We use sake in prepping (such as removing the odor of the meat/fish) and seasoning, so I’d say the kids as young as 3 (or age they eat regular food) are exposed to meal that contains sake (BUT evaporated already). Hope this helps!
Dear Nami,
I followed your recipe (omitted the potatoes and used leeks) last night and it was fabulous! I was worried about skimming of the fat as that it gave a lot of flavor but the outcome was a clear but still flavorful soup that was almost sophisticated! Thanks!
I have one problem though. How do you usually spoon out the ingredients on the bottom of the pot without breaking apart everything? My salmon broke into many pieces and was hard to fish out under the layer of vegetables.
Thanks
Hi Carrie! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and writing your kind feedback. So glad you enjoyed it!
Skimming won’t lose any flavors as you’re only scooping some unwanted texture/flavor. Clean broth will let you taste delicious flavors without obstructions. Japanese cooking requires a lot of skimming when we make stews, simmered dishes, and soups.
I see what you mean. And I kind of do this consciously when I serve any type of soups and stews with soup involved. When the soup is getting low, I usually scoop up the ingredients more on purpose (more so than first few servings) because I don’t want to end up with just the ingredients and no soup at the end. So while there are plenty of liquid, I stir and scoop up more ingredients.
As for breaking up, this soup includes salmon and it’s very flaky. I drink the last bit of soup so I personally don’t mind serving myself the flaky salmon soup, but I serve bigger chunks for my family. If that concerns. Maybe scoop up the salmon after cooking (at least nicer piece) and you can serve on top after you put soup?
Traditionally, this is not a fancy soup (especially with salmon scraps) so it’s quite messy in terms of presentation. 🙂
if i am serving two,how much salmon scrap ,fillet and water I should use? Thank u!
Hi Yolinda! This recipe serves for 4-5 people, so half of the recipe should work. 🙂
I don’t have Kombu handy, can I use dashi instead? Can’t wait to make Sanpeijiru tonight!
Hi Sophie! I apologize for my late response. You can use dashi (do you mean powder dashi?) without kombu. Typically it’s made with kombu dashi, but regular katsuo dashi is okay too, if that’s what you only have. 🙂
I made this for dinner on Monday – it was really good! One change I made was to only add the salted salmon (salted my own according to your recipe) at the very end, just before serving.
Thanks Nami 🙂 I’m glad I took the effort to blanch the salmon bones and also to skim the soup before cooking the veggies.
I am also v inspired to try making japchae, after watching your super cute video! bought the Korean glass noodles already 🙂
Hi Chloe! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks so much for trying! Yes, it’s a lot easier to skim before adding veggies (much harder too). Hope you enjoy Japchae! I got my noodles too. Can’t wait to make it again. 🙂 Thank you!! xo
Absolutely delicious,made it on Friday!!!!
Thank you for sharing!!!!
Hi Natalia! Yay! I’m so happy you tried this already! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hello,
Thank you for wonderful recipe. Hokkaido cuisine is very interesting.
May I clarify: salted salmon is different from smoke salmon. True?
Salmon scraps are raw fillet with bones, are they? Also I would like to ask do you use fish head for fish broth?
Sorry for silly questions.
In Russia fish soups are a bit different.
I would like to try this soup.. It seems very tasty..
Thank you.
Albert from Russia.
Hi Albert! Thank you for reading my post! Salted salmon is similar to cured salmon, using just salt, different from smoked salmon. And salmon scraps are raw, and they are just leftover parts (bone, belly area) after salmon is being filet. Fish head is used for this recipe, but I I didn’t have it. Your questions are not silly at all (and I mean it). 🙂 Make sure to check Salted Fish recipe in the recipe or I put it here as well.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-cook-salmon-salted-salmon/
Hope you enjoy! 🙂
why can’t I use raw salmon filet?
I mentioned in the blog post that this soup is made with salted salmon, and sure you “can” make with raw salmon fillet but it’s lacking the salty flavor. 🙂 If you have time, I recommend to make salted salmon (recipe link shown in the post/recipe) and try this recipe.
At the paragraph where you listed the difference between sanpeijiru and ishikari nabe, you mentioned that sanpeijiru uses salmon scraps and usage of salted salmon is optional. However, at the paragraph below the picture of the package of salmon head that does not contain the head, you mentioned that sanpeijiru is made from salted salmon. So is salted salmon an optional or not optional ingredient?
Hi Jessica! Yes, Sanpeijiru’s main ingredient is salmon scraps. Below the picture of salmon scraps, I said “If you can’t find salmon scraps”, THEN you can use salmon fillet, BUT it has to be salted salmon, not regular salmon. Hope that makes sense?
Oh, so either I use all salmon scraps or all salted salmon fillets or a mix like you did?
If I use all salted salmon fillets, do I still use 450 grams or I should use less as it’s saltier than salmon scraps?
HI Jessica! I am so sorry for my late respond. What you said is correct.
With the size of fillet you see in my recipe, 4 fillets are about 500 g (see here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-cook-salmon-salted-salmon/). I think 4 fillets is good amount for this recipe. You can add a few more fillets. 🙂
Interesting. I always leave the fish oil/fat because I thought it makes the soup very savoury and flavorful. Actually, I fry my fish to expel the oil out and add water straight to the fish and oil. I agree it’s very oily though. Next time I’ll try your clean version. Thanks!
Hi Carrie! Fish oil is good for you! When you cook with salmon scraps, you want to get rid of solidified blood, sliminess, and excess oil around the fish. Even though you cook it fast, the flavor won’t go away, so don’t worry. When you cook salmon with vegetables, the salmon still has good oil, and you get to enjoy drinking the soup (with oil). It’s the worst when the soup is smelly from the fish that you didn’t clean well. 🙂 Hope this makes sense.
We only have salmon frames to sale here. So it’s one head with the link of frame, bone some salmon on it till the tail. So can I cook this with this recipe?
Hi El! Hmm not sure about the head in this recipe. You can use salmon scraps (less flesh attached to skin…). If you can’t find it, then use the fillet so you can eat it with the soup. 🙂
Oh I love japanese soups, they have an unique deep flavor! I’m not familiar with this sanpeijiru soup since I’m vegetarian but everytime I get the ingredients (not so easy here! You can get daikon radish sometimes, taro sells in local thai grocery stores but konnyaku is known only as “diet noodles”!!! ) I want to make kenchinjiru and usually all my friends I serve this soup are just amazed by the richness of flavours and colours in such simple little soup!!! I can imagine this salmon soup is flavoury and super tasty, too!
Hi Genus! Kenchinjiru is amazing. I love the simple dashi broth with root vegetables. I wish Japanese ingredients are easy to get… I really hope in next 5-10 years, your local grocery stores carry more Japanese products. 🙂 I need to spread Japanese food to the world more! 😉