What is Sawaniwan?
Have you ever heard of Sawaniwan (沢煮椀)? It’s a Japanese soup that’s not as well known abroad, but it has quite a long history and is often served at school lunches. Its unique characteristic is that all vegetables are cut into julienne and pork is also cut into thin strips, which gives it a colorful and beautiful appearance.
The taste is quite rustic, with a soy sauce base and the umami from the pork. It’s a kind of soup that you can have every day, and it’s packed with a variety of ingredients no wonder it is served at school lunches!
It’s said that this soup originally came about as a way for fishermen to preserve their food when they went out on the sea. They’d use salted meat and whatever vegetables they had on hand to make a soup, and it was a great way to make the most of their catch!
How I Developed This Recipe
Not only is this soup not known outside of Japan, but there are very few recipes in English on the Internet, so I felt like I needed to keep it as authentic as possible.
The vegetables are the star of this soup, and the meat plays the role of adding depth to the broth with its fat rather than being meaty.
I made it rustic, yet flavorful so that it would be a soup you could drink every day.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Sawaniwan Soup at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
This section aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the cooking steps and techniques with visuals. I will also include more in-depth tips and tricks than the recipe card.
All vegetables should be cut into fairly thin strips. This will allow them to cook quickly.
First, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrots, radishes, and snow peas and blanch them for 30 seconds.
Drain the vegetables in a colander and transfer them to a bowl of cold water.
While the vegetables cool, rinse out the pot, pour in the dashi broth and bring it to a boil. Then, simmer it for one minute with pork, mirin, and light soy sauce.
The key is to cook the pork first to transfer the umami from the fat to the broth. For this reason, another trick is to choose pork parts with a reasonable amount of fat, such as pork belly.
After this initial simmer, I add the blanched vegetables and shiitake mushrooms to the pot and simmer everything together for about 3 minutes, or until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are softened to your liking. The vegetables in Sawaniwan should still have some bite.
Then taste it and if you think it needs a little more saltiness, adjust it by adding a little bit of salt.
Finally, I divide the soup and vegetables evenly into serving bowls.
A sprinkle of black pepper over each serving adds a subtle, spicy kick that perfectly complements the mild flavors of the broth and vegetables.
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsI hope you enjoy this Sawaniwan Soup recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Japanese Soup Recipes
- Authentic Homemade Japanese Miso Soup
- Kenchin Jiru (Traditional Japanese Vegetable Soup)
- Tonjiru (Butajiru) Japanese Pork Miso Soup
- Japanese Clear Soup (Osuimono)
Want more inspiration? Explore my Japanese Soup Roundup Post for a carefully selected collection of tasty recipe ideas to spark your next meal!
Easy Sawaniwan (Japanese Vegetable and Pork Soup)
Ingredients
- ½ carrot julienned
- ⅛ daikon radish thinly sliced
- 10 snow peas thinly sliced
- 4 fresh shiitake mushroom thinly sliced
- 140 g thin sliced pork belly cut into thin strips
- 840 ml dashi stock
- 60 ml light soy sauce
- 60 ml mirin
- salt to taste (if necessary)
- ground black pepper garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. While it heats up, cut ½ carrot, ⅛ daikon radish, 10 snow peas, 4 fresh shiitake mushroom and 140 g thin sliced pork belly according to the ingredient list.
- Prepare a bowl of cold water and set it by the stove. Once the water is boiling, add the carrot, daikon and snow peas to a pot and blanch for 30 seconds.
- Transfer the vegetables to the cold water and dump the water from the pot.
- Using the same pot, add 840 ml dashi stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, add 60 ml light soy sauce, 60 ml mirin and the pork, and cook for 1 minute. Drain the vegetables and add them to the pot. Continue to simmer for about 3 minutes or until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are softened to your liking.
- Taste the soup and add salt to taste if necessary. Divide into serving bowls and sprinkle with ground black pepper. Enjoy!
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