Pienro with the finest Dashi broth

This Pienro is made by simmering pork, chicken, Chinese cabbage, and glass noodles in a broth made from rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms.
The only seasoning added during the cooking stage is sesame oil, and Guanylate from the dried shiitake deepens the umami of the meat in this superb dish!
Then, each person can share it with the broth on their own plate and eat it with minimal seasoning of salt and chili pepper to taste.
Enjoy a feast made only with natural umami!

Chop the kombu and soak it in cold water with dried shiitake mushrooms overnight. This alone will dramatically improve the taste. The shiitake mushroom stems also produce a thick broth.

Japanese

Chinese

Simple

Soaking water

Meat

Vegitable

Ingredients (For 4 people)

50 g Dried shiitake mushrooms (large size)
10g Kombu (kelp)
1.6 liters Shiitake soaking water + water
400g Chicken thigh meat
1/2 Large Hakusai (Chinese cabbage)
400g Pork belly
3 Tbsp Sesame oil
70g Glass noodles
A pinch of Rock salt or sea salt
A dash of Chili pepper
Optional amount of Cooked rice for Zosui (rice porridge)

Steps

Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in cold water after a quick rinse, soak kombu in water for 10 minutes, cut into small pieces, add them, and let them soak overnight in the refrigerator.

If the shiitake are cut in the middle of rehydration and then soaked again, they will rehydrate faster, fluff up more, and produce a better broth.

If you feel that shiitake broth tastes bitter, dilute it with water. Guanylate in dried shiitake is easily felt as a bitter taste if it is too concentrated, but diluting it solves the problem.

Cut large shiitake into two or four pieces for easier eating, and slice off the hard tips of the stems before slicing them lengthwise.

Drain the kombu and shiitake through a strainer, then add water to the broth to make 1.6 liters and put it in a pot.

Cut Hakusai (Chinese cabbage) into cores and leaves. Cut each into bite-size pieces. Also cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Put Chinese cabbage core, shiitake mushrooms and kombu in a pot over high heat.

Bring to a boil, remove scum, add chicken, sprinkle 2 Tbsp sesame oil over the entire pot, cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Add pork, glass noodles and Chinese cabbage leaves and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Finally, sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of sesame oil for aroma.

Please put the soup from the hot pot in your own dish and add the desired amount of salt and chili pepper to make a dipping sauce.

When you finish the ingredients of the pot, add rice to the pot and make a Zosui (porridge), it is very delicious!

Point

Pienro is to enjoy the natural umami of the ingredients with a minimum of salt and chili. Pork belly should be added later to prevent it from becoming too tough. Enjoy the leftover broth with rice in a porridge.

Dried shiitake mushrooms are best when they are rehydrated overnight in cold water before cooking. Guanylate in the dried shiitake deepens the umami of the meat.

Chopped kombu makes the broth thicker, even in small quantities.

Mr. Senoo Kappa introduced this dish from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, which is adjacent to Vietnam, and it has become a very popular hot pot dish in Japan.