Zosui is a comforting Japanese rice soup cooked in a savory dashi broth with vegetables, eggs, mushrooms, and sometimes chicken. It‘s a mild and nourishing meal that helps refuel your energy. With pantry-ready ingredients, you can easily make it in no time! {Vegan-friendly}
Regardless of the season, I always welcome a comforting, healthy soup. If you’re like me, this Japanese Rice Soup called Zosui (雑炊) is for you!
You’ll need only minimal ingredients, which can be any leftover scraps of vegetables or mushrooms in the refrigerator. Ready in less than 30 minutes, this bowl of warm rice soup will instantly reenergize and restore your energy.
Table of Contents
What is Zosui?
Zōsui (雑炊) is a Japanese rice soup made from pre-cooked rice and dashi broth that’s seasoned with soy sauce. Some may describe it as the Japanese version of congee, except Zosui is more robust in texture. The rice grains are intact while submerged in the soup broth.
It is generally served to those who are sick or under the weather. Therefore, Zosui is often cooked with simple and easy-to-digest ingredients, such as a small amount of vegetables, mushrooms, and eggs.
If you want to make it more hearty, you can add protein like meat and seafood as I did in this recipe. It can also be totally vegan by using kombu dashi and vegan-friendly ingredients.
Zosui is not a common restaurant menu, but some places offer it at the end of a hot pot meal as an option. The restaurant staff will make it right at the table by reusing leftover soup from the hot pot. It’s an instant fill-me-up kind of dish.
What is the Difference between Zosui vs. Ojiya?
If you’re familiar with Japanese food, you may have heard of Ojiya (おじや), another popular rice-based soup during the cold season.
Since rice is simmered in a dashi broth in both dishes, Zosui and Ojiya have a lot in common.
Many people use the words Ojiya and Zosui interchangeably, and the usage varies by region and household. However, there are some common differences between them:
Zosui (雑炊)
- Cooked rice is rinsed under water first to remove excess starch.
- It does not get cooked too long so the shape of the rice is retained.
- The broth is seasoned only with soy sauce.
Ojiya (おじや)
- Rice is never rinsed.
- Ojiya can be cooked for a longer time and the rice can be mushy (and no visible shape of the rice).
- The broth is seasoned with miso or soy sauce, but not overly flavored.
Ingredients for Japanese Rice Soup
- Dashi broth – Unlike chicken broth or vegetable broth, dashi can be made pretty quickly, even from scratch. In this recipe, I used a dashi packet, which makes it even easier but tastes a lot better than an instant dashi powder. And if you happen to have some leftover hot pot broth, you can definitely use it to make Zosui.
- Vegetables – I used green onions and carrots today.
- Mushrooms – I used shiitake mushrooms.
- Eggs
- Chicken or whatever that’s available in your refrigerator.
- Cooked rice – Most Japanese keep the leftover rice frozen, and here’s how to store cooked rice.
How to Make the Best Zosui
- Make dashi.
- Cut all the ingredients and rinse the cooked rice.
- Start cooking chicken, followed by dense vegetables, mushrooms, and rice.
- Once everything is cooked through, drizzle eggs and sprinkle green onions.
- Serve warm!
Vegan-Friendly Zosui Ingredients
Zosui is super flexible and easily customizable, and you can make it any way you like. You can use any veggies, but here are some additions for vegan/vegetarian zosui:
- Tofu – silken tofu, aburaage (fried tofu pouch), or atsuage (thick fried tofu)
- Japanese mushrooms – shiitake, shimeji, maitake, enoki, king oyster
- Vegan-friendly kimchi
- Umeboshi
- Natto
- Wakame seaweed
- Shredded nori (kizami nori)
- Soy milk – this makes the dish tonyuu zosui (豆乳雑炊). It has a creamy and sweet flavor and makes a delicious rendition for vegans or vegetarians.
Believe it or not, this Japanese Rice Soup takes less than 30 minutes to cook! It’s not only warm and delicious, but it’s also full of nutrition to give us the strength to recover from sicknesses.
Other Comforting Rice Dishes
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Zosui (Japanese Rice Soup)
Video
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 3 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 2 tsp usukuchi (light-colored) soy sauce (or regular soy sauce)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Zosui
- 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1–2 pieces; skip for vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 inch carrot (1.4 oz, 40 g)
- 2 shiitake mushrooms (2.8 oz, 80 g)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1½ cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice (10.6 oz; cold, pre-cooked rice works well; or use freshly made)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) (skip for vegan)
- ½ tsp toasted white sesame seeds
- ⅛ tsp white pepper powder
Instructions
- Before You Start: For the steamed rice, please note that ¾ cup (150 g, 1 rice cooker cup) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yields 2¼ US cups (330 g) of cooked white rice. See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe. Now, gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Dashi
- In a large pot (I used a donabe), add 3 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock). You can make Awase Dashi or Vegan Dashi from scratch or use a dashi packet, as I demonstrate here. First, add 3 cups water and 1 dashi packet to the donabe.
- Cover the lid and slowly bring the water to a boil on low heat. After a few minutes, open the lid and shake the bag to release more flavor.
- Close the lid and continue to heat the broth. Once boiling, cook for 3 minutes and discard the dashi packet. Keep the lid closed and set aside.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Remove the excess fat from 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cut the meat into small, bite-sized pieces.
- Discard the tough stems of 2 shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice the caps.
- Cut 1 inch carrot into quarters lengthwise and thinly slice them crosswise.
- Slice 2 green onions/scallions into thin rounds and put them in a small bowl. Set aside for garnish.
- Measure 1½ cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice. If you’re using cold pre-cooked rice, put it in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse under running water to remove any excess starch. Shake and drain well. If you’re using freshly made rice, you can skip rinsing.
To Cook the Zosui
- To the hot dashi broth, add the chicken.
- Close the lid and bring it to a boil on medium-low heat. Once boiling, use a fine-mesh skimmer to skim the scum and foam on the surface.
- Add the carrot and cook covered until tender, about 4–5 minutes.
- Once the carrot is tender, add 2 tsp usukuchi (light-colored) soy sauce and ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt to the broth.
- Add the shiitake mushrooms and well-drained cooked rice. Cover to cook for 10 minutes.
- Beat 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) in a bowl or a measuring cup with a pouring spout.
- To create fluffy egg ribbons, slowly drizzle a thin stream of the beaten egg over the soup surface in a circular pattern, starting from the center and spiraling outward. For better control, place your cooking chopstick vertically at the edge where you pour the egg. Avoid pouring the egg in the same place.
- Add some of the green onion and ½ tsp toasted white sesame seeds. Sprinkle ⅛ tsp white pepper powder at the end.
- Cover with the lid and bring the pot to the table to serve in individual bowls. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 5, 2020. It’s been republished in January 2022.
Thanks so much for your amazing recipes! I have made this zosui several times for my family following your recipe, and I have also enjoyed many of your other recipes as well! We have been living in Japan the past couple of years, but I often didn`t know what to do with most of the food at the grocery store. Your recipes are so great because now I can cook using Japanese ingredients with confidence and my Japanese friends are happy that I am learning how to cook authentic recipes!
Hi Alyssa! Awesome! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed many of Nami’s recipes and learning how to cook in Japan!
Thank you very much for trying recipes and sharing your story with us. Happy Cooking!
Hi Lea, I just tried this recipe, it taste so good 😍😍 my son loves it too…but the rice texture become like porridge…hmm I’m wondering why…but my son still loves it 😊😊 thank you
Hi Unichan, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
In this case, to avoid becoming like porridge, please try rinsing the rice under running water to remove excess starch next time. (Your cooked rice could have contained much starch.) We hope this helps!
Thank you so much Lea! Definitely will try again next time 😊😊 it tasted so good 😍😍
Simple and effective, that’s the way I like it ! 😀
Hi The Book of Food! Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear you enjoyed Zosui.😊
I recently discovered your channel after my sister said your recipes are her “go to” for family meals. I’m loving all your recipes and I really enjoyed that you had Japanese word of the day at the end of your video. My father is Japanese but we never learned to speak it well and your channel and helpful words has inspired me to break out my lesson books and try again in my older age.
Hi Patricia! Nami and the JOC team are so happy to hear you enjoyed many of Nami’s recipes and videos!
It never too late to learn new things! We hope you continue to learn Japanese. Good Luck!
Hi Nami, I’m a 75 year old retired chef who found the taste of Japanese a number of years ago….I would eat nothing but Japanese food if I could. Thank you for your recipes, which I have found very flavoursome.
Hi Garth! Nami and JOC team are so happy to hear you enjoy many Japanese dished!
Thank you very much for trying recipes from our site and for your kind feedback!
I almost never leave reviews for recipes, but I just have to with this one. I had some leftover veggies in the fridge so I wanted to try out a recipe that would translate well to different vegetables — I used Napa cabbage, celery, cremini mushrooms, and onion. This recipe was so quick and easy, and the taste is so comforting and nostalgic. I’ll definitely be making this recipe a weekly feature to use up any leftover vegetables. Thank you so much!
Hi Mary! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed it very much. Thank you for taking your time to share your cooking experience with us.😊
hi, thank you for so many wonderful recipes! it would sure help if they were printable.
Hi Judy, Thank you very much for your request!
Currently, Nami has basic recipes in a print version. We have it available on Amazon https://amzn.to/35Ahqge.
You can also print the recipes from our website by clicking the “Print Recipe” box on the recipe card. We hope this helps!
I have been searching online and in bookstores for a resource like this, and I can finally stop searching. Thank you for ALWAYS creating such beautiful, reliable and useful recipes/videos!
Hi Marie, Welcome to JOC! We have many traditional and authentic Japanese recipes on the site. It also takes readers a closer look into Japan itself through cultural and travel guides around the country. We hope you enjoy it!
Hi Nami-san, thank you for the beautiful dish as always.
Would the rice absorb the broth at the end?
If i want to make individual bowls, can I use steam method after making the broth and before the egg?
Hi Novi,
Thank you for trying many of Nami’s recipes and for your kind feedback!
We hope you have a chance to see Nami’s Youtube video for this recipe. You may able to see how much broth will be left at the end.😉
https://youtu.be/t8OQDzDtL6U This recipe includes an amount of the broth at the end, and you can enjoy the rice and broth. But if you leave it for a few hours, yes. The rice started to absorb the broth.
As for using steam rice, Yes, you can use steamed rice for this recipe, but we recommend using uncooked rice in the pot from the beginning. The rice will absorb the Umami from the broth when cooked together, and it’s tastier also makes the rice texture more suitable for this dish.
We hope this is helpful.
Lovely dish, added cabbage to the recipe and it turned out nicely.
Hi Monique! Thank you for trying this recipe! Glad to hear that the addition of cabbage worked out well. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Nami! I don’t have fresh shiitake, only dried ones. Should I use those or just omit altogether? Planning to make this with salmon 🙂
Hi Lee! It’s up to you. You can make it without it or rehydrate 2 shiitake mushrooms and use the soaking liquid in the broth. 🙂
Can I use dashi miso paste to make the broth? Also are button mushrooms Or dried shiitake ok to substitute shitaki ?
Hi Wendy! You can add miso in your broth as a variation! 🙂 Sure, you can swap the mushrooms of your choice. If you use dried mushrooms, don’t put too much as the fragrance and taste can be very powerful.
What a great way to use leftover rice! I was able to finally get my hands on some dashi and I am very thankful because this dish was mouthwateringly delicious, I had to go back for seconds. So quick and easy too. Can’t wait to try this again in winter.
As always, thanks Nami!
御馳走様でした!
Hi Julia! よかった!!ありがとう! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
This one didn’t quite work out for me. The egg didn’t come out fluffy (as in the picture), and the final product lacked flavor despite the subtlety of the recipe.
Hi Jo-Ann! I think you “poured” the egg too much. To make sure the egg becomes fluffy ribbon-like texture, you have to drizzle a very very small amount while you move around the surface. So 1) drizzle small amount, take your time. Use the chopstick to create a thin line of egg mixture like I showed in the image. 2) Don’t pour in the one area. You have to move around and find the area where there is no egg yet.
As for the taste, please adjust with salt. Usually salt is most important flavoring in this recipe. 🙂
Happy to try again.
Hi Jo Ann! Let me know how it goes! Good luck with fluffy egg. 🙂
I made this last night for dinner and again for lunch today using leftover teriyaki chicken. My Japanese American husband loved it. Your Instant Pot Curry Chicken and Gyudon are also two of our favorites. Love your recipes, thank you so much!!
Hi Lorraine! I’m really happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed my recipes. Thank you so much for your kind feedback. xo 🙂