RECIPE: Pengin Shokudo's Ishigaki Gourmet Chili Oil Pork and Tomato Soup

Ground yourself and nourish your body with this comforting soup drizzled with handmade Ishigaki gourmet chili oil!

This healthy soup is a simple, balanced meal with all the protein and vegetables you need. Hearty, savory, and fresh, this Pork and Tomato soup is the perfect filling soup for any day of the week.

The secret to this satisfying recipe is the dashi base. Dashi is an essential foundational ingredient in Japanese cooking and can be translated to broth. Dashi is used as a base for many Japanese dishes and many Japanese cooks will attribute the umami flavor of a dish to the quality of the dashi.

Japanese dashi comes in many forms, from mushroom to fish to kelp based broths. You can learn more about the numerous dashi varieties by exploring our DASHI: “Umami” Care Package. Using the ingredients in this care package, you will be able to adjust the base flavor of this recipe as you desire! Try the katsuoboshi dashi flavor for a deep and aromatic taste, the awase dashi flavor for a sweet and mellow base, and the shiitake mushroom dashi flavor for an earthy foundation.

Though this recipe showcases how to use dashi in the form of a meat-based soup, dashi is used in a diverse range of Japanese dishes we encourage you to try! Try dashi as a base for your dipping sauces, in your miso soups, or simply simmer your meats and vegetables in dashi as a quick meal.

This recipe is topped with Ishigaki gourmet chili oil, made by a small, local Okinawan company called Penguin Shokudo. Their Ishigaki Gourmet Chili Oil is one of their bestsellers and is made by hand with famous local ingredients from the island of Ishigaki.

The Ishigaki gourmet chili oil brings a layered, intricate Okinawan heat to this soup and will comfort your soul! Customize your Pork and Tomato soup by adding as much Gourmet Chili Oil for your spice preference!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 150g finely chopped pork
• Oil to stir fry
• 1 ripe tomato
• 4-5 okra
• 600ml dashi (soup stock)
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp Ishigaki Gourmet Chili Oil

Instructions:

1. Cook the okra and cut the tomatoes into cubes.
2. Pour the small amount of oil into a pot, add finely chopped pork and fry.
3. When the pork starts cooking, add the soup stock and sake, and boil.
4. Add salt and fish sauce.
5. Add okra and tomatoes just before eating, and turn off the heat.
6. Transfer to a bowl and complete the dish by dripping the chili oil on top

Recipe courtesy of Pengin Shokudo

Introduction courtesy of Kimberlee Laney

As a Japanese-Korean-American, my love for Japanese food first came from my grandmother's kitchen! Japanese food feels like home and I love being able to cook it anywhere in the world to connect with Japan in my own little way. I love diving deep into the layers of Japanese food and always marvel at the food diversity between prefectures. I'm currently eating my way through Tokyo and taking up photography with my Instagram account @capturingkim!