A healthy and tasty recipe that will warm you up from the bottom of your heart.

B: 1/2 an onion, 2 green bell peppers, 1/2 a carrot, 1 bag Vegetas soup mix (with the powder removed from the bag), appropriate amounts of pepper and grape seed oil.

C: 4 slices abura-age (slices of fried tofu), appropriate amounts of imogara (dried potato stem) or kanpyo (dried gourd shavings) to tie the mouth of the bags, or if you cannot find these, toothpicks to hold the bags closed.

D: 1.6 litres water, 2 bags Vegetas soup mix, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, a small length of long Japanese leek.

1) Wash the glutinous fox millet well in a fine-mesh calendar, place in a smallish saucepan with the water and place over a strong flame. Stir continually and when the bottom of the saucepan becomes visible, turn the flame down to very low, place the lid on the pan and simmer lightly for 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 10 minutes.

2) Chop the vegetables from B very finely, fry in grape seed oil, and when soft, add the Vegetas soup mix and pepper to season, then add to A and mix well.

3) Cut the abura-age slices from C in half, rinse them in scalding water to wash out the oil. Place 1/8 of 2) into each of the 8 little abura-age bags and then tie the bags closed with the imogara or kanpyo (or thread toothpicks through the mouth to hold the bags closed).

4) Place the water and Vegetas soup mix from D in a saucepan and heat. When boiling, arrange 3) in the water and boil for 10 minutes at a medium flame. Add soy sauce and chopped Japanese leek to complete.

It’s really the all-purpose soup mix that makes it possible to produce this elegant-tasting soup. This is what makes it possible to enjoy deep flavours that you usually cannot enjoy with just vegetable ingredients!