Keihan (Chicken and shiitake rice soup)

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 3 slices ginger
• 3 spring onions, cut into 5 cm lengths, a few green tops reserved to serve
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus extra to serve
• 1 tbsp sake
• ½ tsp salt
• 6 cups warm cooked Japanese rice
• ½ tsp yuzu kosho (Japanese yuzu pepper paste) (optional)
• 1 sheet nori, very thinly sliced

Shredded egg

• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Place the chicken breast in a saucepan with 1½ litres of water. Add the dried shiitake mushrooms, ginger, spring onions, soy sauce, sake and salt. Bring to a very gentle simmer, then simmer over low heat for 10 - 15 minutes, skimming any scum that rises to the surface. The water should barely be moving.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and stand the chicken in the broth for 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, trim off the stalks and finely slice the caps. Place the sliced mushrooms in a bowl and drizzle with a little extra soy sauce.
3. Remove the chicken from the broth and shred the chicken by hand. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Return the broth to the pan.
4. Meanwhile, for the shredded egg, combine the egg, sesame oil and salt in a bowl. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add the egg, spreading it over the base in a thin layer by rotating the pan. When set, flip the egg and cook the other side. Remove from the pan, roll up and slice thinly.
5. Divide the warm rice between 4 bowls. Top the rice with the chicken, mushrooms, reserved sliced spring onions and shredded egg, as well as a small amount of yuzu kosho (if using) and some sliced nori. Heat the broth and serve in a teapot to pour over the chicken and rice.

Photography by Adam Liaw.

Want more from The Cook Up?

• Stream free here at SBS On Demand.

• Get the show recipes, articles and more here.

• Cook more Adam Liaw recipes here