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Japanese Shrimp and Bamboo Shoots Soup Recipe

Serves/Makes: 4

Ingredients:

• 12-16 fresh small shrimp
• 8 ounces precooked bamboo shoots, sliced or 1 fresh bamboo shoot
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 4 cups (1 liter) Basic Dashi* Stock (see recipe below) or 2 teaspoons dashi* stock granules dissolved in 4 cups (1 liter) of hot water
• 1 teaspoon sake
• 1 teaspoon Japanese soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried wakame seaweed, rinsed and soaked to soften
• Kinome, watercress or parsley, to garnish

How to cook:

• Rinse and blanch the bamboo shoots. Set aside.
• Peel the shrimp, discard the heads and tails. Slice each shrimp lengthwise without cutting through and remove the intestinal tract. Rinse and pat dry.
• Dust the shrimp with the cornstarch, transfer to a sieve and shake to dislodge excess cornstarch. Blanch the shrimp in boiling water for 20 seconds until the cornstarch sets. Then plunge into ice water for a few seconds and set aside.
• Pour the Basic Dashi Stock, sake, soy sauce and salt into a saucepan, add the bamboo shoots and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp and return to a boil and immediately remove from the heat. Garnish with the kinome and serve at the beginning of the meal.

Basic Dashi Stock (Bonita Flake) Ingredients:

• 4 inches square piece konbu**, wiped clean
• 4 cups water
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 3 ounces bonito*** flakes

Basic Dashi Stock (Bonita Flake) Preparation:

• Cut konbu square into 4 narrow strips. Place in a saucepan with 4 cups water and cook over medium heat. Heat until just about to boil, then quickly remove pan from the heat, remove and discard konbu.
• Add the cold water and bonito flakes to the konbu broth. Bring to a boil then remove immediately from heat, and set aside to cool.
• When all the bonito flakes have sunk to the bottom, pour the liquid over a strain and discard the flakes.

Comments:

*Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stocks considered fundamental to Japanese cooking.
**Konbu, a kind of seaweed. It is associated with the word yorokobu, meaning "joy".
***In Japanese cuisine outside Japan, bonito usually refers to the skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), which is known as katsuo in Japan. This fish is smoked and dried to make katsuobushi, an important ingredient in making dashi (Japanese fish stock), used extensively in Japanese cuisine.

This recipe for Japanese Shrimp and Bamboo Shoots Soup serves/makes: 4

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Main Ingredient: Shrimp
Preparation Method: Soups/Chowders
Cuisine: Japanese

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