Tara Nabe: Japanese Black Cod and Matsutake Mushroom Soup

I am not the biggest fan of the fall in Seattle with its heavy rains and gusty winds. The only thing that somewhat reconciles me with this season is that it is a wild mushroom season as well. Chanterelles have been around for about a month; matsutake have just started and trumpets are coming to the markets and stores any day now.

On a rainy Saturday like today I love to treat Ilya and myself with some nice warming soup. Like Tara Nabe, a fantastically fragrant Japanese soup with black cod, matsutake mushrooms and mizuna. I fell in love with this soup at Nishino restaurant several years ago and reconstructed the recipe at home so we can enjoy it any time we want. Since then, I cook it whenever matsutake are in season.

Matsutake flavor is delicate, yet quite strong and easily recognizable; woody, but not earthy. In Uwajimaya their price is assigned based on the size. The smaller the mushroom, the more expensive it is. Prices range from 15-20 to 90-100 dollars a pound. For this soup, you can take the cheapest mushrooms. Their stems can be more chewy and tough, but in this recipe you need matsutake flavor, rather than texture, so if the mushrooms stems are too tough to eat, use them for the stock and discard afterwards.

You will need:

• 6 cups Japanese dashi stock
• 1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
• ½ lb black cod, skinned and boned, cut into1.5 inch chunks
• 2-3 slices of firm tofu, cut into approx. ½ inch cubes
• 1 matsutake mushroom or more depending in the size, thoroughly cleaned and sliced, about ½ cup cut,
• A generous handful of mizuna (Japanese arugula that can be found in Uwajimaya), arugula or spinach, rinsed, large leaves cut  in smaller pieces
• 2 green onion stems, sliced (optional)
• ½ lb clams (optional)

Make a dashi stock. Season with soy sauce and salt to taste. Add mushrooms, tofu and green onions, if using. Let cook on a medium low heat for several minutes to extract the flavor of the mushrooms. Bring the stock back to a simmer and add the fish and mizuna. Immediately remove the pot from the heat and let rest about 5 minutes. The heat of the broth will cook the fish even after being removed from the heat.

In nabemono tradition, everything is cooked in one pot. But if you use clams, I highly recommend cooking them separately. Clams often have sand inside their shells which will only become obvious when they open. In a pot, pour about ¾ cups water and bring to a simmer. Add clams and cover the pot with a lid. Cook, shaking the pan often, until the clams start to open. Transfer the open clams to the soup and discard those that stayed closed. You can add the cooking liquid to the soup, just make sure to strain it well through a sieve lined with a wet paper towel.

My next favorite mushroom in this soup is a trumpet, also known as black chanterelle. As a rule, their season comes after matsutake and thus in September and early October with have tara nabe with matsutake and in late October and November with trumpets. Compared to matsutake, trumpets are much more robust and have deeper and earthier flavor, which gives the soup a different, but no less pleasant note.

When wild mushrooms are not in season, I make this soup with shiitake, bunashimeji and maitake. To enhance the flavor of the stock, I make dashi using dried shiitake as well.