My mother used to make Zōsui to finish off bits and pieces of leftover Vegetables and Cooked Rice. To make this soup even more filling, she often added some dumplings which I loved. Mochi is also very nice in this soup but they are not available always, so she made simple wheat flour-base dumplings. This soup will keep you warm on a cold day.

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Makes

2 Servings

Ingredients

2 cups Dashi Stock *OR 2 cups Water & 1 teaspoon Dashi Powder
1 tablespoon Sake (Rice Wine)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
Some Vegetables (Carrot, White Radish, Shiitake, Shimeji, Potato, Spinach, etc.)
2 servings Cooked Rice *about 240g
1 Spring Onion *finely chopped

Dumpling

1/4 cup Plain Flour
1/4 cup Glutinous Rice Flour *OR Potato Starch
1 pinch Salt
1/4 cup Water *alter the amount
*Note: Instead of the Dumplings, 100g Gnocchi can be used

Method

1. Cut Vegetables in small bite-size pieces.
2. Heat Dashi Stock, Sake (Rice Wine), Salt and Soy Sauce in a saucepan, add the Vegetables, cover with a lid, and simmer for a few minutes.
3. Mix all the Dumpling ingredients in a small bowl and make a thick paste. You would need about 1/4 cup Water, but alter the amount.
4. When the Vegetables are half-cooked, add Cooked Rice, and cook for a few minutes. Then, using a dinner spoon, drop bite-size dumplings into the boiling soup. (If you use Gnocchi, add them now.) Simmer until Rice is soft and dumplings are cooked.
5. Sprinkle some finely chopped Spring Onion and serve hot.
6. *Note: The photo below is the same Zōsui but cooked with Gnocchi.