Kenchinjiru - Buddhist Soup

This recipe for vegetable soup comes from Kenchoji-ji Temple
There is a story behind the soup. It would appear that a temple acolyte dropped a block of tofu, shattering it to pieces. Instead of wasting it, he cooked it with some vegetables and the monks seemed to like it.

4-6 dried shiitake mushrooms (fresh are okay too)
5.5 oz gobo or Burdock root
2.5 cups water
10.5 oz daikon, peeled and cut to bite sized wedges.
1 block of konyaku, cut into bite sized pieces
7 oz carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 tablespoons sesame oil
3.5 oz lotus root, peeled and cut to bite sized pieces.
2 tablespoons shoyu for sautéing
2.5 cups konbu stock
4 tablespoons saké
1 block firm tofu
4 tablespoons shoyu for soup
2 tablespoons red miso or 3-4 tablespoons white miso, optional but recommended!
Handful of greens - baby spinach, collard greens, etc.
Small amount of ginger juice

Soak the shiitake in the water for 10 minutes. Drain. Soak for another 30 minutes in the 2.5 cups of water. Remove the mushrooms but keep the water as you will use it later. Remove the stalk and cut into bite-sized slices. Peel the gobo and cut into thin bite-sized slices. Soak them in cold water for 5 minutes to remove bitterness. Drain and put aside. Cut the daikon into bite sized pieces and soak in cold water for 10 minutes to remove bitterness.
Cut the konyaku into bite sized pieces and boil for a couple of minutes. Drain and remove.
Heat up the sesame oil in your soup pot (or in a separate pan) and stir fry the gobo, shiitake, konyaku, daikon, carrot, lotus root, and shoyu for around five minutes.
Add the shiitake water, konbu stock, and sake. Bring to a boil. Cook on low heat until vegetables are tender (30-45 minutes). If there’s any froth forming on the top, remove it with a spoon.
Crumble the tofu block into the pot and mix it in. Add the shoyu and miso. Stir gently for a while until you think the miso is dissolved. Add your greens and cook them lightly. Add a small amount of ginger juice to taste.
When you serve this, you can add a little more shoyu to individual bowls as well to taste.
Goes really well with a side of freshly cooked rice.
A lot of ingredients here, but the important thing to know is that you can substitute many of them.