Many recipes direct you to simmer chicken pieces in dashi, while other recipes direct you to make more of a traditional chicken stock and add ingredients like kombu while the stock is cooking to give the stock more flavor. I’ve cheated in my recipe by using previously prepared chicken stock and simmering a bit of kombu in it to give it added flavor. A hot bowl of zosui is so comforting, especially when it is cold outside or you are feeling under the weather. Zosui is also very popular with little ones. Squirrel often finishes her own bowl of zosui and then wants to eat mine.
Guilty as charged.
I usually make zosui when I have leftover roast chicken, but you can poach or roast a chicken breast specifically for your zosui. (It would also be really good with leftover kalua pig . . . .) Then you just shred the chicken into small strips, add it to your zosui, and heat it for about a minute until your chicken has heated through.
I like to stir in grated ginger at the end and garnish my zosui with sliced scallions for extra flavor.
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Tori Zosui—Japanese Rice & Chicken Porridge
Makes 2 – 3 servings
2 cups chicken stock
12 — 13 square inches dashi kombu
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/4 — 1 1/2 cups cooked Japanese rice
1/3 — 1/2 pound cooked chicken (skin and bones removed), shredded into thin strips about 1/4-inch wide and 1 1/2-inches long
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 – 3 scallions, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Put the chicken stock and kombu in a pot. To draw out maximum flavor, let the kombu soak for 10 to 15 minutes before placing the pot over high heat. Bring the stock to a boil over high heat. When the stock begins to boil, remove the kombu and discard it. Turn down the heat to low heat and season the stock with the black pepper. Keep the broth at a simmer.
2. Place the cooked rice in a strainer and rinse under cold water to separate the grains and remove any excess starch. Drain the rice thoroughly before adding it to the chicken stock. Add the rice to the stock and simmer it in the stock over low heat for 10 minutes, or until each grain of rice swells to at least twice its original size.
3. Add the chicken strips to the simmering rice soup and cook until it has heated through, about 1 minute.
4. Add the grated ginger to the pot and stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately in deep bowls and sprinkle with the sliced scallions.
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I love finding new recipes to try with leftovers too. Looks great and she is a doll:)
i am in! this looks delightful, and i think it might almost work with my challenge this week of spending less than $18/day on food for my family. almost… with a few modifications. and what a little cutie pie- i can’t wait for that stage- so full of delight!
This reminds me of Chinese Chicken or Fish porridge that my mom often makes at home. So full of flavour and delicious.
Cooking Ninja– This is actually the Japanese “cousin” to that porridge that you’re talking about! There is another Japanese version called okayu that starts with uncooked rice and is much blander–usually fed to babies and people with colds!
I’m really loving all of your leftover rice ideas. Can’t wait to make this one too!
Ginger often helps when we don’t have much appetite (not to mention having medicinal values), so it totally makes sense to eat this dish the way you prepare it when we don’t feel well.
Your little one is SOOO cute!
I adore recipes like this! It’s comfort food completely!
What a lovely dish. I agree with LollyChops, comfort food. Nice photos.
Your daughter is adorable!!
this is the best way to give new life to leftovers!
Amazing! I’m sure I would love this rice!
I have to admit, when I saw “chicken porridge” I was mildly concerned. This looks great though!
oh, that sounds like such a wonderful comfort food… and your daughter is so adorable!!
Mmh, I love almost any type of chicken soup or porridge. This looks wonderful. Do you think it would work well with my whole grain jasmine rice?? -Cam
Cam (Cam de la Ron)– You can use jasmine rice, the texture just won’t be the same (not as much like a risotto). But I’m sure it will still be good!
she is cute as a button, as we say down here … love using leftovers… nice read
Great dish and use of leftovers! You’re the best Rachael!
I would definitely love this as I am quite a “porridge” person :D
Looks like a warm and hearty dish… Love the pretty green of the scallions on the top!
My mom usually cook the porridge using dried anchovies as based for broth, then she would add coriander & spring onion with some fried shallots n its oil. But we also do cook the bland type of porridge when we are sick. :)
I love porridge – from all different cultures! I’m not sure if I’ve ever tried the Japanese version, come to think of it. But I just bought a huge pack of kombu, so maybe it’s time to try! And that photo makes me want some NOW!
porridge is so comforting altho I never grew up on it. strange but true. seeing yours I mvery inclined to have a bowl tomorrow! :))
This looks so good. Porridge, so comforting!
I just made this tonight with leftover roast pork, and doctored it up with a little cinnamon, curry, garlic, and soy sauce (instead of salt). Delicious!
My family loves Tori Zosui to finish up a hotpot dish, utilising chicken wings for the broth :)
Oh yum! This my favourite winter breakfast. Once it starts cooling down here, I now know how to make it (if I haven’t had nabe the night before).
looks like a version of ‘Jook’, a korean rice porridge my mom used to feed it to me as a kid when i was sick. she always threw in cloves of garlic as well so that it would help me get rid of any bug i had. ah, the memories.
Kitchen Monki Dan– It very similar to jook!
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