Shiru 汁 soup

This is everyday Okinawa soup: layered aroma, sweet vegetables, umami:

• Heat bone broth gently, below a boil.

• Dashi base 出汁 (だし)
• Add two generous handfuls of bonito flakes, steep 1–2 minutes.
• Katsuobushi かつお節

• Strain out bonito flakes. Broth is now aromatic dashi.
• Ichiban dashi 一番出汁

Add sliced onion and simmer until sweet.

1. Tamanegi たまねぎ (玉ねぎ)

Add sliced daikon and carrots, simmer gently until tender.

1. Daikon だいこん (大根)
2. Ninjin にんじん (人参)

Add rehydrated dried enoki and simmer briefly.
Enoki えのき (榎)

Add cubed silken tofu and soaked wakame. Warm gently.
Tofu 豆腐

Wakame わかめ(若布)

Turn off heat. Dissolve white miso slowly. Do not boil.
Shiro miso 白味噌 (しろみそ)

Optional finish with torn nori or a small pinch of fresh bonito flakes.

• Nori 海苔 (のり)

In Okinawa, this would not get a fancy name. It would be called something plain and honest, like:

Kachū-yu

かちゅー湯

(かつお湯, “bonito broth soup”)

or more generally:

Shiru

汁

(“soup”, everyday home soup)

If vegetables are emphasized, an Okinawan would often say:

Yasai no shiru

野菜の汁

(vegetable soup)

If miso is clearly present:

Mīsū-jiru

みーすー汁

(Okinawan pronunciation of miso soup)

At home, someone might simply say:

Kachū-yu tsukuru yo

かちゅー湯作るよ

“I’m making bonito soup.”