Stone Soup

Everyone knows the story of stone soup, right? Well, tonight we're eating an Asian version of stone soup.

My tale begins thusly:

I was busy partying this weekend, and then it started pouring for three days straight, so by this morning there was not much left in my fridge. When this happens, I usually throw a few vegetables in chicken stock and boil some noodles. Today, I didn't even have chicken stock. So I thought "Oh well, it'll be okay." Until about 5:00 p.m., when extreme hunger set in. I dug through all my kitchen cabinets, refrigerator drawers, freezer shelves, and came up with a soup comprised of the following:

• hondashi in water flavored with ginger, onions, and scallions
• large pieces of daikon, which is extremely sweet this time of year
• dried seaweed
• teardrop shaped fish balls stuffed with juicy masago centers
• Konniyaku, or Japanese yam cakes
• fresh spinach (not yet included in the photo above)
• a handful of shrimp

I just kept throwing things in until the smells made my mouth water. Sometimes it amazes me how much food I keep in my freezer and pantry. Stone soup rules.