Made some Tonjiru!

Made some not super traditional Tonjiru yesterday!

What I used:
Katsuoboshi (for dashi stock) (2oz)
Wood ear mushrooms (for stock and soup addition) (1lb)
King oyster mushrooms (0.5-0.75lb)
Konjac (single serving package)
Butternut squash cubes (one pre cut bag)
Super firm tofu (one package)
BBQ green onions (one bunch)
Nappa cabbage (half a head)
Pork belly (1.3 lb)
Sesame oil (2 tbsp)
Beef broth (just a tad like half a cup)
Miso paste (12 tbsp)
Ginger (fresh, about 3in of root)

So my method was a little unorthodox since I didn’t have access at the moment to daikon/kabocha/taro/dashi powder etc etc

I started by making stock with what bonito I had by bringing 8 cups of water to a high simmer before adding my 2oz of bonito flakes and 8oz of wood ear mushroom.
(Since I didn’t have much bonito or anything to make more dashi I added the mushrooms for extra flavor to my stock)

Raised the pot to a boil and let it boil for about 30sec to a minute and turned the heat off. I let this sit to soak up as much flavor as it could while I prepped vegetables and the meat

I cubed my tofu and tossed them in garlic powder, salt, and onion powder and set that aside

Next I cubed the king oyster mushrooms, and chopped up the wood ear mushrooms that wasn’t used for the stock

Chopped the bbq green onions into longer cuts and quartered the thicker ends

Chopped some Nappa cabbage into wide strips

Once I was done prepping my main vegetables I tackled the pork belly, first by removing the skin and then slicing it as thinly as I could. My cuts came out thicker, I feel you really want a thinner slice than what I had for this but it was still really good

Last I prepped the Konjac, usually you would boil it for a couple minutes to remove the smell but I didn’t have too much time and I didn’t want to dirty more dishes so I just rinsed it and cut it into bite sized pieces

Now that my prep was done, in a heavy bottomed pot browned the sliced pork belly in some sesame oil. Once that was browned, I basically threw in my mushrooms, green onions, butternut cubes, and sautéed those in the pan for a little while before going ahead and also adding in my tofu and Konjac

After cooking for another 2-3 minutes I poured the dashi in and raised the heat to a boil. I also added a little bit of soy sauce and some beef broth I had in the fridge to just give me a little more stock and make sure that it was rich

After that cooked for about 5-6 minutes I went ahead and added my Nappa cabbage in and brought my soup back down to a simmer.

At this point I added my miso paste ensuring my soup wasn’t boiling and mixed it in well.

Once all was done, I portioned out my servings and grated my fresh ginger into each bowl, which I’m so glad I did I almost forgot to, it really added a nice flavor to the soup.

Even if not with the usual traditional veggies/mix ins and the traditional dashi base you usually use for it, this soup is SO delicious, filling and nutritional. I genuinely didn’t have to add any extra flavorings or seasonings after finishing it. I usually add a little soy sauce to most of my dishes when eating them but really, this is one of the best soups I’ve ever made. With the amounts I listed here, I got 8 bowls of Tonjiru that run at about 500-550cal per bowl.

Curious to see how it’ll come out next time when I do have the right ingredients!