Region
Ramen, miso soup, udon, soba, oden and the quieter bowls of Japanese home cooking. 19 soups from Japan in Soupmap Recipes, including Shoyu ramen, Miso soup and Tonjiru. Tested recipes with honest timings, a servings scaler and timers.
19 recipes
Japan · Noodle soups
Shoyu ramen
A clear chicken-and-dashi broth, a sharp soy tare, rolled braised pork belly and jammy marinated eggs. Tokyo's classic bowl, done properly at home.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Clear & light
Miso soup
Tofu and wakame in a freshly made kombu-and-katsuobushi dashi, with the miso stirred in off the boil. The everyday Japanese soup, made properly.
Photo: Brücke-Osteuropa, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Hearty & chunky
Tonjiru (pork and vegetable miso soup)
Thin pork belly and a basket of root vegetables fried in sesame oil, simmered in dashi and finished with miso. The winter miso soup that eats like a meal.
Photo: kina3, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Kitsune udon
Thick udon in a pale, fragrant Kansai dashi, topped with fried tofu simmered sweet until it brims with juice. Osaka's gentlest classic.
Photo: 毒島みるく, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Chicken paitan ramen (tori paitan)
Chicken bones boiled hard for hours into a thick, milky broth, with a clean salt tare and juicy poached breast. Creamy ramen without a drop of cream.
Photo: Totti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Curry udon
Thick udon in a glossy curry sauce built on dashi, with tender slices of beef or pork and plenty of spring onion. Japan's noodle-shop comfort food, made from scratch.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Hōtō (Yamanashi miso noodle stew)
Thick, flat noodles cooked straight in a miso broth with kabocha and root vegetables until the pot turns velvety. Yamanashi's winter one-pot, from a simple homemade dough.
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Jungle assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Kake soba
Buckwheat noodles in a hot, deeply savoury broth of strong bonito dashi and a soy kaeshi left to mellow overnight. Japan's simplest soba bowl, done properly.
Photo: 毒島みるく, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Miso ramen
Sapporo-style miso ramen: pork and vegetables seared in a very hot wok, a garlicky blend of red and white miso, thick wavy noodles, and butter and sweetcorn if you like.
Photo: Andy Li, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Shio ramen
A pale, see-through chicken, pork and kombu broth seasoned with a salt tare. Hakodate-style shio ramen, and the purest test of a good stock.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Tantanmen (sesame and chilli ramen)
Japanese-style tantanmen: chicken stock made creamy with toasted sesame paste and ringed with chilli oil, sweet-savoury spiced pork, bok choy and toasted sesame.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Tonkotsu ramen
Hakata-style pork-bone ramen: trotters and bones boiled hard for up to 12 hours into a creamy, ivory broth, with thin noodles cooked firm and the classic toppings.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Noodle soups
Tsukemen (dipping ramen)
Thick, cold-rinsed noodles with a hot, intense pork, chicken and dried-fish dip, finished by thinning the last of it with dashi into a soup.
Photo: Douglas Perkins, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Clear & light
Hamaguri ushiojiru (clear clam soup)
Clams started in cold water with kombu and seasoned with little more than salt, sake and a drop of light soy. A pale, sea-sweet broth, and the traditional soup for the Doll Festival.
Photo: Ocdp, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Clear & light
Kakitamajiru (Japanese egg-drop soup)
A clear dashi seasoned with light soy, salt and mirin, barely thickened so beaten egg sets in soft, floating clouds. A gentle Japanese soup, in the bowl in 25 minutes.
Photo: Masahiko OHKUBO from Kobe, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Clear & light
Ozoni (Kanto-style New Year soup)
Grilled square mochi in a clear dashi seasoned with soy and salt, with chicken, greens, carrot and kamaboko. The Tokyo-area bowl for the first morning of the year.
Photo: Ocdp, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Hearty & chunky
Kenchinjiru (temple-style vegetable soup)
Root vegetables, shiitake and torn tofu fried in sesame oil, then simmered in kombu-shiitake dashi and seasoned with soy. A clear, savoury soup with no meat or fish at all.
Photo: 円周率３パーセント, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Hot pots & stews
Oden
Daikon, eggs, konnyaku, fried tofu and fish cakes, simmered slowly in a light, golden dashi until everything tastes of the pot. Japan's winter comfort, with sharp mustard.
Photo: pelican from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japan · Hot pots & stews
Yosenabe (Japanese hot pot)
A gently seasoned kombu broth simmered at the table with chicken, fish, prawns and vegetables, then finished with rice porridge made in what's left. Winter's easiest way to feed a crowd.
Photo: User:Toki-ho and User:Ananda, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No recipes match all of those.
