The first time I tried traditional Japanese clear soup was also on the first date I had with my husband at a hibachi steakhouse. While I’ve yet to have a chance to visit Japan, this simple soup holds a special place in my heart.
Be sure to try this vegetarian ramen recipe, too!
What is Traditional Japanese Clear Soup?
I admit, when the waiter at the Japanese restaurant we’d chosen put the bowl of this simple soup in front of me, I wasn’t impressed. It looked like…clear broth. I sampled it, not sure what to expect, and was surprised at the depth of flavor. It was the perfect way to start our meal.
Common at hibachi restaurants or teppanyaki establishments, this Japanese clear onion soup is usually served as a starter before the main course.
If you’d like to try a little taste of Japan without hopping on a plane, this recipe is an easy place to start!
Ingredients
Chicken broth: This is the base of the soup, so start with a delicious broth. Prefer a beef broth? That would work, too, though it will be a bit stronger than the chicken stock. If you are vegetarian, you could certainly replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth, but it wouldn’t exactly be a traditional Japanese clear soup.
Onions: You’ll use several types of onions for this recipe. For making the broth, use any kind of bulb sweet onion you have on hand — white, yellow, or red. Once ready to serve, you’ll sprinkle chopped green onion or scallions on the strained broth. If you want to try a different type of onion, spring onions would be a good alternative.
Carrots: Chop carrots into chunks (for the large carrot option) or if you have baby carrots, you can put them in the broth whole.
Ginger: Choose fresh knobs of ginger and peel if desired, though it’s not necessary. If you opt not to peel, just be sure you wash them well. [Read about ginger vs. ginger powder.]
Garlic: Peel whole garlic cloves. Use small cloves whole; slice larger ones. Either way, you’ll have delicious garlic flavor in this Japanese onion soup!
Mushrooms: This recipe calls for button mushrooms, which you’ll add to the broth after it’s strained. Could you use shiitake mushrooms? Sure you could.
Making the Soup
You’ll start by sautéing the onion, carrots, ginger, and garlic in a large saucepan or stock pot. Once seared and beginning to caramelize, you’ll add the meat stock and simmer for an hour or so.
Strain the solids to create a clear broth.
Serving this Healthy Soup
Spoon broth into serving bowls and top with sliced mushrooms and green onions. Serve this flavorful soup with soy sauce and sesame oil on the side for people who want to add a little something else.
Divide between four bowls as a starter before the rest of the meal, or two bowls for a light meals. (Nutritional information is based on four bowls.)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 large sweet onion peeled and cut into wedges
- 2 large carrots cut into chunks
- 2 inch piece fresh ginger sliced
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 4 whole scallions sliced
- 10 button mushrooms sliced thinly
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium high heat; add oil.
- Place the onion, carrots, and ginger in the stock pot. Sear the veggies on all sides to caramelize.
- Add garlic and cook just until it begins to brown.
- Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot, and simmer for one hour.
- Pour broth through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the solids; reserve for another use. Taste the broth and salt as needed.
- Divide hot broth between four individual bowls and top with fresh sliced scallions and sliced mushrooms.
Could I make a whole batch and freeze it?
It should freeze fine!
Sorry; I just saw this comment! Yes, this would freeze well!
I noticed that some restaurants have a crunchy white stuff that they put into the soup. What is it?
that I don’t know.
French fried onions
Fried onion
I think it’s those dried onions they sell in a can and use in green bean casserole
Tempura flakes
Tempura crispies..crumbles
LA choy chow mein noodles in a can about 2 dollars at Walmart in the Asian section
It’s usually mushrooms sliced thin, fried onions (like French’s) and sliced green onions for garnish
Fried onions like French’s
Was not a big fan of this recipe
I see 8g of sugar per serving. Where is this sugar coming from?
Vegetables (especially carrots) have a sugar content. The program that calculates this for me is likely pulling that and not taking into consideration that the veggies are removed.
I’m planning on repurposing the vegetables in another soup recipe, but don’t need the ginger for it. Would I be able to add the ginger in after I strain out everything else and simmer for an extra hour (maybe add more broth too)? Do you think it would still turn out ok?
I would think so?
Hi! I made this for the first time just the other day and my soup came out rather dark instead of clear, is there a step I missed or something I did wrong? The soup still tasted great, so no worries there.
Could be the broth you used?
The crunchy white/yellow stuff is usually tempura flakes
Why are there raw mushrooms in the soup? Shouldn’t they be cooked before?
They will be cooked in the broth.
I’m not sure where I went wrong but it tasted awful 😠I didn’t even add salt to it and it turned out extremely salty. Also most of the broth evaporated during that hour and I was left with about a cup left 🥲
The saltiness could come from the broth you used? I’ve got other people here loving, it; good example of how we all have different food preferences and palates.
Divinely delicious! I made this in preparation for surgery where I can only have clear liquids in advance. (I strain it completely, of course.) It is fresh and wonderful and I feel full and not the least bit deprived. I love soups and will make it for an everyday dish as well.
So glad you like it!
Can you do anything with the solids strained?
They’re edible, certainly, but much of the flavor might be leached out into the soup. You could chop them and stir them into pasta sauce or add them to a pasta salad.