Hoto Noodle Soup

Steps

1. Gather all the ingredients.

2. Soak 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) in 5 cups water in your Hoto Noodle Soup pot. Here, I use a donabe.

3. Remove the heads and guts of ¾ cup iriko/niboshi (boiled and dried anchovies) and discard. If you’re not sure where the gut is, it’s the black area inside the belly. This will reduce the bitter flavor in the dashi.

4. Put the cleaned anchovies (the left pile in the image) in a tea bag or cheesecloth.

5. Add the bag to the water and kombu, cover, and slowly bring it to a near boil on low heat.

6. Once almost boiling, remove the kombu and continue to cook the anchovies for another 10 minutes. Skim off the foam and scum from the stock while cooking. After 10 minutes, remove the bag of anchovies. Set aside.

7. Remove the seeds of ⅛ kabocha squash and cut it into 1-inch cubes.

8. Peel and cut 4.2 oz daikon radish into half lengthwise and cut into half-moon slices ¼ inch thick. Then, cut them in half to make quarter circles.

9. Cut ⅓ carrot into rounds ¼ inch thick. If you‘d like, you can cut the rounds into a flower shape (hanagiri).

10. Cut 1 Yukon gold potato into small chunks and cut ¼ onion lengthwise into ½-inch slices.

11. Cut 2 leaves napa cabbage into smaller pieces, especially the bottom tougher part of the leaves.

12. Cut ½ leek into 2-inch pieces. Cut each tube piece into quarters lengthwise.

13. Cut off the bottom of ½ package shimeji (brown beech) mushrooms and 2 shiitake mushrooms.

14. [Optional] You cut a decorative flower shape on the caps of the shiitake mushrooms called shiitake hanagiri.

15. Pour boiling water over 1 aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) to remove the oil. Cut it into 4 pieces.

16. Now, all the ingredients are ready to cook.

17. Heat the dashi over medium heat. Start cooking the tough vegetables first, such as the leeks, onion, daikon, bottom white part of the napa cabbage, potatoes, kabocha, and so on.

18. Once boiling, add 6 oz sliced pork loin (separate each slice).

19. Add 4 Tbsp sake and 2 Tbsp mirin. Bring it to boil. Once boiling, add the rest of the ingredients and 7.8 oz hoto noodles (uncooked).

20. Bring it back to a boil again and skim off the foam/scum as you cook.

21. Add 5 Tbsp miso (varies depending on the type of miso) and continue to cook on simmer until the noodles and all the ingredients are cooked through, about 10–15 minutes.

22. Always check the flavor. Add Diamond Crystal kosher salt to taste and add more miso if necessary. Serve hot and enjoy! We usually bring the donabe to the table with a portable gas burner stove and serve into individual bowls. Sprinkle with shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) if you like it spicy.