Down-home, hardy Pork Belly Miso Soup

A hardy miso soup that can stand on its own with pork belly and Miso Soup

Difficulty: Pretty easy (especially if you already know how to make dashi. No worries if you don’t! Here’s the recipe) but more complex than a standard miso soup as there are a few vegetables to chop, prep, and cook.
Serves: 8 small servings or 6 smaller servings
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
Vegetables:
-1/2 Burdick Root (Looks like this: you can find it at Asian Grocery stores like HMart. Substitute: 1/2 parsnips)
- 1/2 Onion
-2 Garlic Cloves
-1/2” Piece of Ginger
-2 Carrots
-2 Yukon Gold Potatoes
-1/2 Daikon (Substitute: Turnips)
-15-20 Green Beans
-1 Bunch Scallion or green onion
Meat:
-1/2 lb. Pork Belly (Substitute: thick slices of bacon)
To cook:
1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
Dashi:
-2 Quarts Dashi (More info on dashi here, Substitute: light chicken stock)
Condiments:
-4 heaping tbsp. of miso
Equipment:
-Cutting board, knife
-Measuring Spoon
-2 Bowls with water
-Large pot
-Sieve
-Ladle
-A table spoon

The Steps
1) Prepare the Dashi: You can make the dashi while you cook the vegetables. For more info, click here:
2) Prep the Vegetables:
If using burdock root: Clean and peel the burdock root. Then cut them into thin slivers. Soak the cut pieces in a bowl of water to prevent oxidation. Strain the water before adding the slices to the soup.
Garlic: peel and mince the garlic
Ginger: Use the edge of a standard, table spoon to peel the ginger then mince.
Onion: Peel and dice the onions.
Scallion/Green Onions: Clean and remove the roots. Cut the white part on a bias ( 45 degree angle) into 1/2” thick slices. Cut the green part into thin slices, about 1/8” thick rounds. Set aside the green part of garnish at the end.
Carrots: Clean and peel the carrots and cut into wedges, about 1/8” thick. If using parsnips, cut them in the same way.
Daikon: Clean and peel the Daikon. Cut them into semicircles about 1/8” thick.
Potatoes: Clean and peel the potatoes: Cut them into bite-sized cubes. Place in a bowl of water to prevent oxidation. Strain the water before adding the cubes to the soup.
Green Beans: Clean and remove the ends. Cut them in half.
3)Cut the meat: Clean pork belly or bacon into 1” pieces.
4)Cook the Vegetables: In a large pot, heat up the oil over medium. Once hot, add the onions and the white part of the green onions. Sauté until fragrant. Then, add the garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant. In order from hardest vegetable to softest add the vegetables(burdock root, potatoes, carrots, and daikon), sautéing each vegetable for about 30 seconds in between each addition of the next vegetable. Do not add the green beans in this step.
5) Add the pork: Once the vegetables are added and the delicious mix of onion, garlic, and ginger coat all of the vegetables, add the pork slices, and sauté the vegetables with the pork slices for 2 minutes until the pork flavor is incorporated with the vegetables. Use this time to also separate the pork pieces from each other so that the pork is distributed evenly in the pot.
6) Lower the heat: lower the heat to low and cook the pork/vegetables for 3-5 more minutes until the pork is cooked about half way. At this stage, the pork will begin to turn brown but you will still see pink in some areas.
7) Add the dashi: Once the pork is cooked halfway, add the dashi. Turn up the heat to high-medium and bring the dashi to a boil. Once boiled, turn down the heat to low-medium. Use a sieve to remove the scum ( the brown/gray foam on top).
8) Add the miso part 1: Place 2 tbsp. of miso in the sieve and hold the sieve over the soup with one hand. Use the back of a spoon with your other hand to dissolve the miso into the soup. Simmer the vegetables and the soup together on low-medium until the vegetables are cooked, about 7 minutes (soft enough that you can skewer the carrots with a toothpick).
9) Add the green beans: Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes.
10)Add the miso part 2: Place remaining miso in the sieve and hold the sieve over the soup with one hand. Use the back of a spoon with your other hand to dissolve the miso into the soup. Taste and add more miso to taste.