How to Make Miso Soup

If you've ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, odds are you've enjoyed the light and delicately-flavored broth known as miso soup. It's unique color and texture may make Japan's favorite soup seem difficult to make at home, but once you learn how to make miso soup just may become your favorite too!

Miso soup (miso shiru in Japanese), is a light, savory broth, typically served as the first course of a Japanese meal. There are many variations on miso soup, both regional and individual.http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=miso+soup&x=0&y=0/ However, the most common type is made from a stock called dashi, to which miso (fermented soybean paste) and other ingredients, such as tofu, seaweed, and scallions, are added. Those of you who have yet to enjoy the pleasure of miso soup may discover that this is one of the most satisfying foods you will ever consume. For those of you who already know the comforting warmth of a steaming bowl of miso soup, and want to try making it at home, learning the process is a snap!

No fancy or exotic cookware or utensils are needed to make miso soup. A good dashi stock is the key to making miso soup. However, instant dashi is also available. Several types of dashi may be made with a variety of ingredients, including dried sea kelp, dried bonito flakes, dried sardines, and shiitake mushrooms. Dashi is best when fresh, but may be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.

There are several colors (white, red, and black) and many brands of miso, which may be used according to your taste. Miso paste will keep in your refrigerator for up to a year. Firm tofu is best for miso soup. Silken tofu is too soft to eat with chopsticks.

• Miso soup does require several specialized ingredients.http://weblogs.thingsasian.com/tablogs/page/cheiter/20070620 If Japanese ingredients are unavailable locally, they may be purchased online at Asian Food Grocer or Amazon.

• For four servings of miso soup, you will need:

• • 6 cups water
  • 1 six-inch piece dried sea kelp (kombu)
  • 1 cup dried bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)
  • 4 tablespoons miso paste
  • 4 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 1 tablespoon dried seaweed flakes (wakame), or 2 finely chopped scallions

• Making miso soup requires no specialized cookware or utensils. Your garden-variety pots, pans, and utensils will suffice.

• For four servings you will need:

• • 5-quart stock pot
  • 2-quart saucepan
  • Large measuring cup
  • Large sieve or colander
  • Wire whisk
  • 4 eight-ounce serving bowls
  • 4 pairs of chopsticks

• Dashi is the light, savory, fish and sea-kelp broth used as the base for miso soup. A good dashi stock is the key to making miso soup.http://japanesefood.about.com/od/soup/a/aboutdashisoup.htm For convenience, instant dashi is also available.http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/2001/japantable/dashi.html However it may contain MSG, so be sure to check the label if you're sensitive. Dashi is best when fresh, but may be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. For best results, do not boil dashi or miso soup.http://www.soya.be/miso-soup.php Bring them just to a simmer. Several types of dashi may be made with a variety of ingredients, including dried sea kelp, dried bonito flakes, dried sardines, and shiitake mushrooms.http://www.ajinomoto.com/tasty/dashi/dashi1.html

• To prepare dashi:

1. Wipe the dusty coating from the surface of the sea kelp (kombu).http://www.asiafood.org/glossary_1.cfm?alpha=K&wordid=2927&startno=27&endno=51
2. Place the kombu in a stock pot with six cups of water.
3. When the water comes to a simmer, remove and discard the kombu.
4. Add the bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi) and bring to a simmer.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool.
6. Strain the liquid into a two-quart saucepan and discard the katsuo-bushi.
7. The remaining liquid is called dashi, and can be used as a base to make a variety of soups and sauces.

• NOTE: This recipe can also easily be doubled, and leftover dashi can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Once your dashi is finished, making the miso soup is easy. All it requires is dissolving the miso paste in the dashi and adding the tofu and seaweed or scallions.

• To prepare miso soup:

1. Bring six cups of dashi to a simmer in a two-quart saucepan.
2. Add four tablespoons of miso paste and stir with a wire whisk until it dissolves completely.
3. Bring the mixture just to a simmer again and remove from the heat.
4. Add four ounces of tofu cubes and one tablespoon of wakame (or two finely chopped scallions).
5. Allow to stand for five minutes before serving.
6. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, stirring as you ladle to making sure that the miso, tofu cubes and wakame are well distributed between the portions.

Miso soup is not typically served with a spoon, and is therefore meant to be sipped from the bowl in which it is served. This may be slightly odd for Western diners, but it's really quite simple to enjoy miso soup this way.

1. Hold your chopsticks in one hand and the soup bowl in the other. Sip the broth directly from the bowl.
2. Use your chopsticks to eat the tofu and seaweed floating in the soup.http://www.bestzunefood.com/putting-it-all-together-miso-soup
3. Also contrary to Western etiquette, it is perfectly acceptable in traditional Japanese culture to make a small slurping sound when you sip the soup, especially if it's very hot.http://www.soupsong.com/basetiqu.html

There are many possible variations on miso soup, from the dashi itself and the type of miso used, to the array of ingredients that may be added to to the basic soup. The combination possibilities are virtually unlimited.

In addition to the basic kombu/katsuo-bushi dashi recipe described above, you can add many different ingredients to the stock.http://www.foodsubs.com/Stock.html#dashi

• Try adding in:

1. Dried shiitake mushrooms, to make shiitake mushroom dashi.http://www.edenfoods.com/recipes/view.php?recipes_id=323
2. Tiny dried sardines, to make niboshi dashi.http://japanesefood.about.com/od/soup/r/niboshidashi.htm
3. Various types of flavorful fish, to make iriko dashi.http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sanuki-Sea-Stock-233762

There are many types of miso, which vary according to the basic ingredient from which they are fermented and the style in which they are produced.http://www.hikarimiso.com/encyclopedia/category.html Miso may be fermented from rice, wheat, or soybeans, and the color of the resulting miso paste ranges from nearly black, to red, to pale yellow. Flavors range from bland to salty, or even spicy.