Nanohana no tamago-tsutsumi no osuimono / clear soup with egg-coated field mustard raab

Faintly bitter nanohana is the taste of early spring. If the buds are still tightly closed, add some yellow by coating them with egg.

<Ingredients>

Handful (4-5 stems) nanohana field mustard raab
1 egg
2 tsp potato starch + 2 tsp water
350 cc katsuo-kobu dashi
1 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce


<Directions>
1.

In a pot, put dashi and usukuchi soy sauce, and bring to boil.

2.

Meanwhile, cut nanohana into 3-4 cm, obtaining 10-12 sections including flower ends.
Save the remainder for another use.

Beat egg.

Add potato starch + water mixture to egg.

Put nanohana, and mix.

3.

When dashi boils, reduce heat to low (or remove from heat), and gently slip in nanohana coated with egg.

Cover, and wait 1 minute.
Ready to serve.

<Notes>

• If dashi is bubbling hard when putting in nanohana, the egg coating will look like craters on the moon. No problem tastewise, but it's not pretty. Keeping dashi hot yet not bubbling is the key for a smooth egg surface.
• About half of egg will be left in the bowl after putting all nanohana in dashi. You can use the leftover egg in another dish or swirl it in dashi as extra egg flower.
• Katsuo-kobu dashi or kubu dashi (350 cc water + 4 cm kombu kelp piece) is recommended for this dish. Katsuo dashi would taste too strong and cover up the taste of nanohana.
• Osuimono means clear soup. It is also called suimono, osumashi and sumashijiru.