Japanese Clear Soup is a classic hibachi starter that is flavorful, healthy, and easier than you think to make at home!
If I asks someone if they like Japanese Clear Soup, they usually have no idea what I'm talking about. Mention Hibachi soup however, and they start raving about this yummy flavorful soup.
In the United States Japanese Hibachi restaurants bring out this clear soup along with a salad with ginger dressing before the chef arrives to start the show. It's also called Miyabi soup or Japanese onion soup as well. Whatever you want to call it, it's delicious and easy to make at home!
Why I love this recipe
If you've been around here a while you know I'm a HUGE soup fan. I eat soup almost every day. This clear soup is a great one to make for in-between meal snacks. It's very low calorie but the flavor and warmth really fill you up. It reheats well so you can make a big batch and have it all week!
Ingredients
- broth - I use a combination of chicken and beef broth
- vegetables - carrots, onion, ginger, and garlic give this soup its classic flavor
- green onion and thinly sliced mushrooms for serving
Step by step
- Sear the carrots, ginger, onion, and garlic in a large saucepan.
- Add broth and bring to a simmer for 1 hour.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove vegetables.
- Serve with sliced mushrooms and green onion.
It really is that easy!
Tips for best results
- Don't skip the searing of the veggies, it helps unlock the flavor
- You can simmer this soup even longer to enhance the flavor, add more broth if too much is evaporating
FAQs
Yes! Sauté the veggies on sauté mode then add the broth and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes, then quick release.
You can most definitely use vegetable or mushroom broth to make this a vegetarian recipe. I recommend simmering longer than an hour in that case to strengthen the flavor.
Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. Top with freshly sliced mushrooms and chopped green onion.
This is a great soup to freeze! Simply allow the soup to cool completely then store in freezer-safe containers in the freezer up to 3 months. I like to freeze this soup in individually sized containers so I can reheat enough for one meal without having to thaw the whole batch.
If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
Print
Hibachi Japanese Clear Soup
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Japanese
Description
Japanese Clear Soup is a classic hibachi starter that is flavorful, healthy, and easier than you think to make at home!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil (can use canola oil or peanut oil to substitute)
- 1 onions, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups beef broth
- 4 cups water
- mushrooms and green onion for serving
Instructions
- Chop vegetables into 1 inch pieces.
- In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add vegetables and sear to caramelize the outside. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add both broths and water to the pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove veggies.
- Serve with thinly sliced mushroom and chopped green onion.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 55
- Sugar: 3.5 g
- Sodium: 963.1 mg
- Fat: 2.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 3.7 mg
Keywords: Japanese clear soup
Frank says
A waste of ingredients and my time.
★
Melissa Riker says
Do you have any other feedback Frank? I've had so much positive feedback on this recipe I'd love to know what you didn't like about it.
Bea says
Can I use only chicken broth for this soup? I'm allergic to beef and pork.
Ronny says
I am on a very strict diet due to health issues and can only have certain things. The only thing I didn’t put in the soup was the ginger. This is SO good and taste just like the Japanese restaurant I go to. Thank you so much for this recipe.
★★★★★
Rhonda says
The soup is delicious. I added tofu. However, the ingredient list calls for 'chopped' vegetables but the instructions say cut into 1" pieces. A little misleading but worked anyway.
★★★★
Melissa Riker says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Lauren says
We made this tonight used 40% less sodium broth and 50% less sodium beef broth and added a dash of kosher salt and it is AWESOME thank u for such a easy inexpensive soup!!!
Melissa Riker says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Raina says
Very good!
★★★★★
Tania says
Can bone broth be used?
Mona D. says
This may seem like a dumb question, but how did you prepare the mushrooms that you put at the end? They’re not raw are they?
Melissa Riker says
Yes, they are raw
Sandi says
Tasty but doesn’t taste like clear soup in the hibachi restaurants where I have eaten it.
★★★★
James says
Restauant soups all add quite a bit of salt. That will make it taste like the restaurant
James says
Add salt to taste like restaurant
Sandi says
It was definitely not the salt level
James says
Try MSG or Accent then and less Ginger
Scarlett says
I did make some slight changes. I used 4 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water with chicken better than bullion. I also added about 1 teaspoon of vegetable flavored MSG. MSG added a good extra flavor enhancer. I did use leftover mini carrots so I did use a hair too much. Still very good.
★★★★★
Melissa Riker says
Glad you liked it!
Mikeysan says
In the early 80's as a misguided teen, I took an evening job at an upstart Hibachi Steak House that, little did I know, would mature into the dominate international Japanese Hibachi Steak House that it is today. The Owners, Papasan Ko and Mamasan Mimi quickly saved me from the streets and gave my life direction, and part of that direction was to never be without Clear Soup on hand!
I became life threatening ill one fall and Papasan Ko came everyday with Hibachi vegetables and clear soup, hand feeding me.
He personally consumed at least a gallon of clear soup in some reiteratiion everyday.
He worked until he was 99.
He died at 105.
Rock on clear soup!
Mikeysan says
FYI... they would often shave then slices seared steak, and or grilled shrimp, along with a few tablespoons of rice into their soup...
Mikeysan says
*thin
Renea Byrd says
Is. Ginger. Or. Ginger root. A. Must
Sarah says
That's wonderful. You never know how the actions of 1 or 2 people can change the life of another.
Carrie says
Making it now, smells delicious and was SO easy! It took just 5 min to prep and I can barely wait for it to finish! Thanks for sharing this.
Libby Leatherwood says
Made this today, it’s delicious! Will be making this again…thank you so much!
★★★★★
Hanley says
Turned out great, prepping veggies took more than 5 minutes though so give extra time
★★★★★
Jill says
Came out perfectly!
★★★★★
Anonymous brother and sister says
But the prep time is way longer than 5 minutes. It took my younger brother and I about 45 minutes to just prep and start the soup process. But it made my house smell delicious. The soup was really salty but it tasted really good. You just have to add some more water than it says in the recipe add about 6 cups of water and not 4 cups of water. I would try another recipe but this recipe I would use every time I want to make this soup.
★★★★
Lisa says
Personally I needed LESS water, MORE chicken broth. But this was great 😉
★★★★
Melissa Riker says
Thanks for taking them time to come back and leave feedback!
Heather says
Yum!
★★★★★
Anonymous says
tasted like mushrooms, very disapointed
★
Melissa Riker says
you don't use mushrooms in the recipe at all until the time of serving, I'm not sure how the soup itself would taste like mushrooms?
Jen says
Tasted exactly like the restaurant!!
★★★★★
Alexa says
I tried this recipe tonight and it came out well but was very brothy. Is there supposed to be water added? It feels like a tiny amount of soup.
★★★
J says
The instructions call for four cups water.
Alexa says
Thanks. When I first read the recipe back in June it didn't have that in the instructions, I went step by step. They updated the recipe so they must've added it in after the fact.