I’ve previously shared my Basic Tofu Miso Soup recipe and today I’d like to share my favorite miso soup recipe called Tonjiru (豚汁), literally meaning “pork (ton) soup (jiru)”.
Tonjiru is not as common as simple miso soup with tofu and seaweed, but some Japanese restaurants around San Francisco bay area do serve them and it’s one of popular miso soup in Japan. Tonjiru usually have gobo (burdock root) and other root vegetables such as daikon and carrots, in a pork based soup stock. The sauteed pork belly gives the soup nice umami flavor and the soup texture is different since it has so many ingredients. Since it’s very flavorful, you can replace Dashi Stock with water if you like. Personally I prefer dashi stock to add more flavor.
The weather in the Bay Area today is cold and cloudy/rainy so I hope a bowl of Tonjiru will warm you up a bit. Enjoy!
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- 5 cups dashi
- ½ Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ lb sliced pork belly (cut into small pieces)
- 1 tsp ginger (ground or minced)
- 1 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 1 onion
- 2 inch daikon radish
- ½ gobo (burdock root)
- 2 Satoimo (Japanese Taro)
- ½- 1 carrot
- ⅓ block konnyaku (konjac)
- 5 Tbsp miso (I use awase miso)
- ½ pkg medium firm tofu (cut into ½" cubicles)
- 1 green onion/scallion (thinly sliced)
- Make 5 cups of dashi stock. When dashi stock is ready, keep it aside.
- Meanwhile, cut all the ingredients into small pieces. If you are interested in Japanese way of cutting these veggies, you can follow Cutting Techniques page. Carrot and Gobo: Hangetsugiri (Semi-Circle) technique, Daikon and baby taro: Ichogiri (Quarter-Rounds) technique, Konnyaku: Tanzakugiri (Rectangles) technique, Onion: thinly sliced.
- In a frying pan, heat sesame oil on medium high heat and add the meat and ginger. Cook until nicely browned and set aside.
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat oil on medium high and sauté onion until it is well coated with oil.
- Add gobo, daikon, baby taro, carrot, and other hard ingredients (like lotus root if you add any). Mix all together and then add konnyaku and soft ingredients (such as shimeji mushrooms if you add any). Stir until everything is well mixed.
- Pour dashi stock into the large pot.
- Add the meat and bring the soup to a boil.
- Right before it starts boiling, skim off the scum and fat from the soup. Simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 15-20 minutes depending on ingredients you put.
- Add miso using a strainer. If you don’t have one, use a ladle so you can make sure all miso is completely dissolved. Taste the soup before you add more miso. If you add tofu, it will dilute the soup a little bit, so you might want to add ½ Tbsp. more miso.
- Add Tofu and stir gently without breaking up the tofu.
- When you are ready to eat, reheat the miso soup on medium high heat. And please remember: NEVER LET THE SOUP BOIL because miso will lose flavor. Add green onion and serve immediately.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: Pictures updated in June 2013.
Mmmm delicious for a cold night in~ I love the addition of Konnyaku ♥ I’ve made dashi-jiru a few weeks back and thanks to your dashi recipe too as part of my reading references 😉 Thanks again for sharing!
Thank you Min! But nothing will beat your fish stock! I still can’t believe you cooked the homemade fish stock for the paella… Very dedicated work! Thanks for stopping by. It’s 2am here and time to sleep. Have a great evening there. 🙂
Beautiful soup! This is something that I always want to learn. THanks for sharing this 🙂
You’re welcome & thanks Ellena! 🙂
Miso soup = yum! I love all of the pictures 🙂
Thank you Allie! 🙂
Wow, this soup looks wonderful! I love Japanese soup: they are very different from Italian one (also good)…
Hi Giulia! Thank you. Come to think of it… what’s the most authentic Italian soup?
I’m a big miso soup fan, though I usually have the ones with spinach, I’m definitely going to try this one 🙂
Hi Gourmantine! My mom used to pack and freeze parboiled spinach when we have leftover, and added in miso soup when we are missing green color in dinner menu. Just remember that now. 🙂 Thanks for your visit!
It’s pretty warm out right now, but I still wouldn’t mind a bowl of this soup! I love miso soups so much! =)
Hi Peggy! So nice your area is already warm. Here, it’s sometimes cold and then warm and back to cold.. going crazy! We drink a miso soup almost everyday if I cook Japanese food and each day different ingredients in it. Have you tried cold miso soup? It’s good too and my kids always prefer cold one.
First of all, thank you for the cutting guide; that’s pretty awesome. I love, love, love the fact that you don’t shy away from pork. We love pork in our house. Hmm, pork and baked goods…oh well. Your soup looks wholesome and filling. Must check our teeny tiny international market for some of the ingredients. Love your sense of humor too:)
Strange – I did leave a comment before but I don’t see it. Anyway I leave it again. Thank you Sandra! I’m glad you enjoyed looking at Japanese cutting techniques. I have trouble explaining in English sometimes so I thought “visual” guide would help. 🙂 I know… now I have to think of people who don’t have access to Japanese ingredients when I make recipes. I’ll try my best! I’m reaallly curious what you can find in the teeny tiny international market!
Perfect dish for a rainy day ; ) I was very suprised to find out that you put tofu in tonjiru.
Hi Mika-san! Eh? You don’t? I guess each region in Japan put different stuff… I’m pretty sure my mom put Tofu in it. Just extra healthy ingredient won’t hurt the taste. 😉
I love that you used pork belly, it looks like very tasty soup! Great and easy to follow tutorial ..thank you for sharing Nami!!!
Hi Sandra! Japanese use pork belly in many recipes. I always have a block of pork belly and/or sliced pork belly in my freezer. 😀
Sounds like a delicious soup! Love all the pictures too! 🙂
Thank you Manu! Hope all the pictures were not too much… 🙂
Yum! I love miso soup. This looks so good. I always love your photos, they are so inviting!
Thank you Beth! I promise to improve my photo skills! ^_^
I haven’t made this in a long time, maybe I’ll make this soon.
Hi Kat! Just one more variety of miso soup. 🙂
That must be the best tasting soup ever! I just love miso soup. Love pork, too. I can happily eat a big bowl of that with nothing else.
Thank you Adora’s Box! I actually drink just this soup in a big Donburi bowl and I’m happy. I don’t even need main dish or a bowl of rice!
Such a great recipe, it turns regular miso soup into a complete meal. Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Carolyn! Thanks. It’s really a great miso soup. I wish Japanese restaurants here offered so everyone could try… too bad.
YUMMY, my favorite soup. Any way you make it if it has miso in it I love it 🙂 I’ll need to make this 🙂 but first I need to get a few of those ingredients 😉
Hi Suzana! Lately I realize these “ingredients” are the key for most people. I’m so used to live here where I can access Japanese ingredients so easily, and I have an assumption that my friends who see this website will be able to get the same thing. But now with all the foodie around the world, I should come up with some recipes that we don’t really need particular ingredinets… but kind of hard…
Thankyou!! i live in Colorado and we don’t have many Asian influence here so i was like time to go to amazon haha.
Josh, thank you for your comment. Since you’re in the U.S. there are also other Japanese online grocery shop sites like:
http://www.marukaiestore.com/
http://shop.mitsuwa.com/eng/eindex.php
Hope that helps. 🙂
Nami… I LOVE pictures, to me they are never too much!!!! I am so happy I found your blog! I really really like it! I am giving you an award. You can retrieve it here: http://www.manusmenu.com/tuna-dip-antipasto-di-tonno 🙂
Hi Manu! Oh wow THANK YOUUUUUU! You are so sweet. I’m on my way to your site.
We love miso soup with pork as it is so hearty and tasty especially on colder days. Adding some konnyaku is a great idea. It looks so tasty and inviting. I would love to have some now with onigiri for my lunch. 🙂
Hi Biren! You are eating Onigiri!!! You are funny. I know you cook a lot of Japanese food, but still, I would never imagined you make Onigiri for your lunch! Now I’m hungry…
I’ve always had basic miso soup before. Can’t wait to try this one! Love all the added veggies too!!
I made this for a “starter” for a dinner party the other night because we were going have sukiyaki and I wasn’t sure our guests could have waited for something warm, having just come in from the Montreal cold. It was a real hit despite the absence of konyyaku, gobo and satoimo. All had seconds or thirds! Thanks Nami! Just wanted to let you know that ginger is missing from your ingredients list.
I’m happy to hear you adjusted recipe and you all enjoyed Tonjiru! I’m going to add the ginger in ingredient list. Thank you for letting me know!
I am so glad I found this recipe! It is one of my favorite meals but never had the ‘guts’ to try it out and didn’t know how to make it..your post makes it work alright for me and beings it is cold and snowy here in Hokkaido I am going to enjoy making this! Now on to my shopping list for it! And Merry Christmas to you!
Hi Vicki! I’m happy you like this recipe. I need to re-take pictures for this post so that it’s more appealing. I really love Tonjiru and make it often too. Ohhh it’s so cold in Hokkaido now, but having a nice soup like this (with good local vegetables!) must be wonderful!! Thank you so much for writing, Vicki! 🙂
Oh, this looks so good, Nami! I’m glad that I saw this today on Facebook!
Hoping to make it one evening for dinner. Yum!
I love Tonjiru more than regular miso soup. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Such a warm delight for the freezing morning up here in East Coast. Trying to stay warm and craving some awesome Japanese food like this bowl of delicious looking tonjiru.
Nami, I have made this numerous times and it has always come out fabulously! I have varied EVERYTHING on the list depending on what I had or could get, and it stays amazing. A very forgiving recipe, and an excellent method! Thanks for another winner!
Hi Angie! So happy to hear you enjoy this Tonjiru recipe! Yeah I also change things up based on ingredients I have in the kitchen. Thank you so much for your feedback!
Mmmmm! Pork belly, miso and root veggies–talk about comfort food! I will definitely try this recipe out soon. One question, though–can you give us an idea, please, as to where we should look for konnyaku in an Asian market? Would it be in the refrigerated section, like tofu, or on the regular shelves like a dry good? Thanks!
Hi Linda! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. I love Tonjiru!! Konnyaku is usually located next to tofu, deep fried tofu…. could be near miso etc. The Asian store that I go to is separated into sections with each country. In Japanese section, konnyaku is near tofu in refrigerated section. Hope this helps!
The package looks like this: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/konjac-konnyaku/
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love tonjiru soup and always wondered how to make it. Your recipe made it so easy for me to make.
Hi Janelle! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
I made this tonight, it was delicious! My husband loved it 🙂
I didn’t have burdock and baby taro, I used satsuma-imo (sweet potato) instead, and I think it still tasted great! 😀
Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Hi Steph! I’m so happy you liked it! Don’t worry, some Japanese ingredients can be hard to find but I’m happy that you adapted the recipe! Yeah satsumaimo sounds delicious! It’s my favorite potatoes. 😀 Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
Hi Nami! I love your recipes! You’re my go to for anything I’m not positive about. I’m planning this for tonight with a tonkotsu broth. Thanks for the help!!!!
Hi Michael! Thank you so much! Tonjiru is my favorite! Hope you enjoy this dish tonight! 🙂
Yum! Great winter comfort food. The sesame oil adds great depth and we also add shichimi powder for a bit of kick.
Hi Ilonka! Yes! Sesame oil always brings out the appetite of the dish. 🙂
Hi, Nami-san!
This looks like the miso soup that the master in midnight diner prepares at the opening of the show. Btw, what dish or side dishes go well with this soup?
Thank you,
Hi Ima! Yes his specialty is Tonjiru. 🙂 I usually serve tonjiru with grilled fish (since miso soup has meat in it), side leafy vegetables. 🙂
Hi Nami, thank you for all your recipes, it’s just what I need as a big addict of Japanese home cooking! Can I ask how long tonjiru can keep in the fridge? Does it taste better overnight (such as nikujaga)? Thanks!
Hi Wei! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy Japanese cooking! Yes, you can keep Tonjiru in the fridge, maybe up to 5 days… if you add potatoes and tofu, they are one of ingredients that could go bad first (so watch out for that). I like 2nd day, flavors come out more (and a bit saltier so you might want to add dashi or water if it’s too salty). Enjoy!!
I was looking for something interesting to make with all my niban dashi so gave this a try. It was very tasty. Although I couldn’t get hold of a block of konnyaku so I just put in extra pork belly instead. :p
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Astra! That works, and you are just missing the texture, not much flavors from Konnyaku. Thank you for your kind feedback! So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi, Nami san! I don’t like to put tofu in my tonjiro but i love aburaage tofu though. Can i simply replace the fresh tofu w/ that? It should taste ok right?
Hi Ima! Sure, you can. Miso soup ingredients can changed according to your preference and seasonality etc. 🙂
After watching Midnight Diner, I was craving this soup, which though not featured in the series, was depicted in the opening scenes. I did not have gobo or taro, but it still tasted really good. Wonderful hearty soup for getting over a flu!
Hi Ying! I was hoping that they would feature this soup so I could make it as similar as his method… but they didn’t. Still, this recipe is my favorite miso soup. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback, Ying!
Hi Nami-san!
I just wanted to say thanks for all of these beautiful and delicious recipes. I made tonjiru this evening and it was delightful.
I used to live in Japan and was missing Japanese cooking – I came across your blog and have been working my way through your recipes. So far I’ve made your broiled salmon, ginger rice, pork rib and vegetable spring rolls, takikomi gohan, and this recipe for tonjiru. They’ve all come out wonderfully with your expert instructions, photos, and proper proportions for everything.
Thank you again for giving me a taste of Japan again through accessible recipes. Your blog is awesome!
Kindly,
Vicky
Hi Vicky! So happy to hear you tried this recipe along with other recipes from my site. I’m so delighted to hear you enjoyed them and I’m happy to hear my instructions were clear to guide you cook. Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂 Hope you can find recipes that you enjoyed in Japan on my blog.
For convenience sake, if i’m making this in a slow cooker, would the miso lose its flavor if i mix it from the very beginning?
Hi Jos! I suggest to add miso right before serving. 🙂