Tonjiru

A winter favourite, Tonjiru is a hearty miso soup made with sliced pork belly and chunky root vegetables. Here, I also use sake kasu, the lees left over from sake making, as it imparts great depth of flavour. Any combination of vegetables will work well in this soup, my favourite is simply carrot and white radish, but you can also use potatoes, pumpkin, Jerusalem artichokes or burdock. There are many variations of tonjiru soup in Japan, and each family will have their own version.