Now, who doesn’t love Hawaii! The air, beaches, people, and the food of course! And as much as I enjoy all the traditional spots like Rainbows, Side Street Inn, Zippy’s, one of my favorite spots has become a small Japanese rice ball shop located a little off Waikiki.
We just happened to walk in there a couple of years back and I randomly ordered the Tonjiru Pork Miso Soup not expecting anything. Now, I’ve had authentic authentic tonjiru miso soup before, but this one just blew me away.
It was loaded with fat, creamy miso and packed with sweet vegetables that exploded like a bowl of creamy buttery goodness! Once I got back home, I knew I would have to make a recipe based on that Hawaiian version of authentic tonjiru miso soup!
So fast forward to the present day, I still have that recipe but being low-carb/keto now, I had to make some adjustments on it. We kept the Japanese radish (daikon) and gobo in there since they play a role in creating the flavors of the broth and adjusted the amount of other root vegetables used.
This all resulted in reducing the carbs but keeping the signature creamy buttery texture that authentic tonjiru miso soup is known for! This is actually one of my all time favorite soups and hopefully more people will find this recipe and try to make it for their next hearty soup meal!
Also if you’re curious, the reason we soak the Japanese radish (daikon) in the water is to eliminate the bitterness from it. If we don’t to that, the daikon is quite bitter as is.
These changes resulted in getting each serving size down to around ~7g net carbs and definitely filling enough to make a full meal out of it!
For this dish, the ingredients shouldn’t be too hard to attain. You probably need to go to an Asian supermarket for the burdock roots, which is necessary to get the correct flavors of the soup.
The yam noodles can only be picked up at an Asian store as well, but you probably could substitute these with Shirataki Noodles.
Now if you’re ready, let’s get started!
Prepping Time 0010M
Cook Time 20M
Total Time 30M
Net Carb/Serv ~7g
Servings 4-5
Ingredients
- 6 Cups of Dashi
- 1 1/2 lb Slice of Pork Belly (the Costco one is about 10″ in length)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Inch Ginger
- 1/4 Whole Burdock Root Gobo (about 6 inches)
- 1 Whole Carrot
- 1/2 Whole Onion
- 1 Stalk Green Onion
- 2 Inch Japanese Radish (Daikon)
- 1/4 Box of Tofu (about 3.5oz)
- 8oz Shirataki Noodles
- 5 1/2 tbsp Miso
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Make 6 Cups of Dashi. Set on simmer and hold aside.
3) In the meantime, peel the skin off the Japanese radish, cut into small cubes about 1″ x 1″ and place in a bowl of water.
4) Cut pork belly into slices that are about 1/2 inch thick and set aside.
5) Grate ginger and set aside.
6) In a frying pan, add 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil and grated ginger on high heat. Heat until fragment and then add sliced pork pelly. Cook until browned on all sides and transfer to a holding plate.
7) Prepare all the ingredients by dicing onions, slicing carrots and burdock root into 1/4″ slices, cutting tofu into 1/2″ cubes, and finely chopping green onions. Set all aside.
8) Prepare Shirataki Noodles by straining prepacked liquid and washing noodles under cold water. Set aside in a bowl.
9) In a large stove top pot, add 1 tbsp Sesame Oil on high heat. Next add carrots, burdock root and onions. Mix and cook for 1 minute.
10) Next, add the cooked pork belly and Dashi from step 2). Strain the water from Japanese radish and add into the stove top pot. Bring the soup to a boil and once boiling, lower heat to low/simmer and cover 7/8 way to allow for venting. Cook for 20 minutes.
11) After 20 minutes has passed, add tofu and Shirataki Noodles, cook for another 3 minutes partially covered.
12) Inside a strainer, add Miso and mix into water to dissolve (never boil Miso as it will lose its umami flavor). Transfer soup to a serving bowl and top with green onion.
Hope you enjoy your Low Carb Tonjiru Pork Miso Soup!
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Tonjiru Pork Miso Soup
Ingredients
- 6 Cups Dashi
- 1 1/2 lb Pork Belly
- 1 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Inch Ginger
- 1/4 Whole Burdock Root
- 1 Whole Carrot
- 1/2 Whole Onion
- 1 Stalk Green Onion
- 1 Small Japanese Radish Daikon
- 1/4 Box Tofu about 3.5oz
- 8 oz Shirataki Noodles
- 5 1/2 tbsp Miso
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Make 6 Cups of Dashi. Set on simmer and hold aside.
- In the meantime, peel the skin off the Japanese radish, cut into small cubes about 1" x 1" and place in a bowl of water.
- Cut pork belly into slices that are about 1/2 inch thick and set aside.
- Grate ginger and set aside.
- In a frying pan, add 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil and grated ginger on high heat. Heat until fragment and then add sliced pork pelly. Cook until browned on all sides and transfer to a holding plate.
- Prepare all the ingredients by dicing onions, slicing carrots and burdock root into 1/4" slices, cutting tofu into 1/2" cubes, and finely chopping green onions. Set all aside.
- Prepare Shirataki Noodles by straining prepacked liquid and washing noodles under cold water. Set aside in a bowl.
- In a large stove top pot, add 1 tbsp Sesame Oil on high heat. Next add carrots, burdock root and onions. Mix and cook for 1 minute.
- Next, add the cooked pork belly and Dashi from step 2). Strain the water from Japanese radish and add into the stove top pot. Bring the soup to a boil and once boiling, lower heat to low/simmer and cover 7/8 way to allow for venting. Cook for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes has passed, add tofu and Shirataki Noodles, cook for another 3 minutes partially covered.
- Inside a strainer, add Miso and mix into water to dissolve (never boil Miso as it will lose its umami flavor). Transfer soup to a serving bowl and top with green onion.
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Nutrition
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I’ve think I found the ramen fix ? you guys are amazing
Hey Foodie! Tonjiru is my and my father-in-laws favorite soup! It’s much less salty than miso ramen and much more creamy and light. If you’re strict keto, just make sure to limit the amount of root vegetables you use to avoid racking up the carbs. This soup is really good though! Wish more people knew about it!