Wakame-healthy sea vegetable soup, full of vitamins and minerals, is a restorative for a lack of sleep, headache, or upset tum. The end of summer starts with glowing yellow leaves, the energetic blooms of purple asters, white Chinese chives, autumn clematis shimmering with bees. I keep the windows open to the prolific chorus of frogs and insects though we need an extra blanket on the bed…
Wakame Takusan Sûpu
The Japanese Kitchen
•250 Recipes in a Traditional Spirit•
by Hiroko Shimbo
page 231
serves 4
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tablespoon peeled and julienned ginger
- 3 scallions, both green and white parts,
cut into thin disks - 4 ¼ cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup sake (rice wine)
- 1 Tablespoon dried wakame sea vegetable,
soaked in cold water for 2 minutes, and drained - 1 Tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
- Tamari to taste
- ground white pepper to taste
In a medium pot, heat the sesame oil over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, 30 seconds.
Add the white part of the scallions, reserving the green part, and cook, stirring, for 1 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and sake, and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the wakame and the sesame seeds. Season the soup with a few drops of tamari and some ground white pepper, and add the green part of the scallions.
Give a few large stirs, and serve the soup piping hot in individual bowls.
Tess's Japanese Kitchen 