This gentle, nourishing soup is perfect for staying healthy during winter or comforting loved ones. Chicken wings marinated in shio-koji simmer slowly with sake-kasu, white woodear mushrooms, mountain yam, sweet rice, and red jujubes, creating a soothing, porridge-like consistency.
I love using our Soup & Stew Donabe, Miso-shiru Nabe or Roast Donabe for their excellent slow-cooking properties, but any deep donabe works well. Ingredients can be omitted or substituted to fit your preferences—just let them simmer gently to bring out their rich flavors.
Equipment
Miso-shiru Nabe Or any donabe with capacity of 1.8-qt (1.8 liter) or moreServings
3 - 4Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs (600 g) chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons shio-koji
- 1 piece 2”x4” (5cm x 10 cm) kombu (kelp)
- 1 qt (1 liter) water
- 2 tablespoons sake-kasu (sake lees)
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 2 medium dry shiitake, rehydrated and thinly sliced
- 2 – 3 green onions (top green parts only)
- 1 knob (about 1 tablespoon) ginger, thinly-sliced
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic
- 3 – 4 jujube
- 4 tablespoons sweet rice, rinsed
- 1/3 oz (10 g) or a bit more dry white woodear mushrooms, rehydrated and cut into bite size pieces
- 8 oz (240 g) naga-imo (Japanese mountain yam), peeled and cut into large bite size pieces
- Moshio sea salt and white pepper
Procedure
- Marinate the chicken wings with shio-koji for a few hours to overnight.
- Combine the kombu and water in the donabe and let soak for 30 min or longer.
- Whisk together the sake-kasu and sake.
- Add the chicken with the marinade to the kombu soaked water in the donabe. Also add the shiitake, green onions, ginger, garlic and jujube. Cover and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
- Skim any scum. Add the sake-kasu/ sake mixture and stir. Add the sweet rice and woodear mushrooms. Bring back to a boil. Turn down the heat to gentle simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the naga-imo and continue to cook for 10 – 15 more minutes. Adjust the seasoning with some salt and white pepper if necessary.
Jujube, ginger, garlic, and green onions are added to infuse the flavors, so they can be discarded when serving.
Notes about ingredients:
- Sake-kasu gives additional richness/ depth to the soup, but can be substituted with extra amount of sake.
- I like adding jujube for its healing component, but it can be omitted.
- White woodear mushrooms can be substituted other kind of mushrooms – I would suggest enoki mushrooms if you would like to keep the nice white color of the dish.
- Naga-imo can be substituted with taro, potato, or other root vegetables.
