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Noppe is a flexible Japanese stew made with vegetables such as taro, carrots, and mushrooms, and can include meat. It is often served during special occasions and thickened with konjac. Leftover vegetable skins or herb stems can also be added for flavor.
Noppe is a type of Japanese soup or stew that is very popular in Niigata Prefecture, although many other areas of Japan have their own versions of the dish. Noppe’s ingredients are intentionally flexible, because it’s sometimes intended as a way to use up leftover vegetables and other foods. The basic stew is made from vegetables such as carrots, bamboo shoots, taro and mushrooms which are quickly fried in sesame oil and then covered with water and boiled until tender. The final soup is then thickened and served. During special occasions, especially the celebration of a new year, noppe is served as a traditional holiday dish.
The most common ingredients added when making noppe are carrots, scallions, and fermented bean curds. A type of tuber known as taro is also usually added and is the main vegetable found in the stew. Taro is a white potato-like vegetable that is actually toxic until cooked to neutralize the harmful chemical. Other ingredients may include lotus root, ginkgo nuts, garlic and ginger. Peeled vegetable skins or herb stems from other meals are sometimes added for flavor and to use up what would otherwise be thrown away as waste.
Dried mushrooms are also usually added to Noppe. They are first rehydrated in water and the dark, flavorful liquid that is left behind is added to the soup as part of the water base in which the ingredients stew. Also, the vegetables that are added can sometimes be fried or blanched in sesame oil. This adds flavor to the final soup and develops some of the sugars and textures of the ingredients.
Once all the ingredients are added to the pot, it is filled with water until everything is covered. The stew is boiled, by seasoning the water and concentrating the flavors. Many times, a special ingredient known as konjac is added to the liquid to thicken it. Konjac, also known as devil’s tongue, is a corm that is processed into a dehydrated form that can help thicken water in the same way as gelatin.
Although noppe is known as a vegetable stew, meat is often an ingredient. In particular, you can add chicken and salted salmon. The water base can be replaced with anchovy broth, and small, crunchy anchovies can be sprinkled into the soup to add texture and saltiness. When noppe is eaten as part of a festive meal, it is customary to place a pile of fresh salmon roe in the center of the soup.
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