Copycat Hibachi Soup {Diet Friendly} & FFF #4

Have you ever eaten at a Japanese Steakhouse and they bring out that cup of really awesome soup prior to the meal? It's basically just some type of broth with some mushrooms and onion floating around....but I love it! My girls also like it, and they aren't usually big fans of soup. So....when I stumbled upon a copycat recipe I knew I wanted to give it a try. Also, since doing Weight Watchers, I've been looking for "low point" meals. This fits the bill, as it has almost no points!! (I think it would also be good for anyone doing The Fast Metabolism Diet...you could add grains in Phase 1 and 3, and eat it plain in Phase 2. It's also super low in carbs!)

Copycat Hibachi Soup

3-4 stalks of celery
1 small onion

2 carrots
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
3 tablespoons beef bouillon granules
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (I omitted)
2 quarts water (8 cups)
French fried onions
green onions (optional)

Tamari Sauce (optional)

• Cut the celery, onions, and carrots into large chucks. Throw them in a large pot.
• Add ginger, garlic, and some of the mushrooms if using. 
• Add chicken & beef bouillon, and water. 
• Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. 
• Once boiling, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
• After the veggies have simmered at least 45 minutes, strain the broth, discarding vegetables (or use for another purpose). Add warm water until you are back up to 8 cups (some of the water will have evaporated, leaving you with a very salty soup.)
• Serve the broth with sliced mushrooms (if using) and french friend onions over the top. I also added green onions and just a splash of Tamari to mine. {Tamari is a gluten free soy sauce, more info below}.

Notes: The addition of the water at the end of the cook time was very necessary due to the extreme saltiness of the broth. I think it may depend on the type of bouillon used. You could try decreasing the amounts, or just add water like I did at the end. I also thought it tasted better (and less salty) as it cooled and the next day when re-heated. Or maybe my tastebuds were immune by that time.

Recipe adapted from: Cooking With Carrie

I loved this soup. Yes, it was initially pretty salty, but once I added water, the green onions and a splash of soy, it was delicious! I discovered Tamari when I was doing the Fast Metabolism Diet (yes, all 9 days of it!). A gluten free sauce was recommended, so I gave San-J a try. Before then, I would have told you all soy sauces were the same. WRONG! San-J has a richer, deeper flavor that I fell in love with. When I was recently contacted to try San-J Lite, which has a 50% less sodium, I jumped at the opportunity since I knew it was a quality product, and less sodium is always good. I have to say that I was expecting it to be a very weak/watered down version of the original. Once again, WRONG! It has a delightful richness that greatly added to the depth of flavor in this soup, without adding a lot more sodium - which you can see from my notes, was a very good thing! That makes San-J Tamari Lite my Friday's Fun Find!

Friday's Fun Find!

Along with the soup we had baked eggrolls. They are so easy, and delicious! (Also low in points!) I just subbed shrimp for the chicken. The egg roll wrappers I have are only 1 point each, and the filling is very low since it's mainly veggies. Yummers.

Are you a Japanese Steak House fan? Brown sauce or white?! I love the brown, as in, I dump it all over everything. They usually have to fill my little bowl up several times!

I was provided with a complimentary sample of San-J Tamari Lite for review purposes. All opinions are my own.