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Miso Soup - Miso-shiru

Although miso paste is high in sodium, a little bit goes a long way. High sodium content may be miso paste's only downside. It is an excellent source of protein, dietary fiber, manganese, zinc, phosphorus, and copper. The minerals present in miso soup are said to help boost the immune system, your energy level, and your bone and blood vessel health.

Here is the recipe I use for miso soup. There is no one correct recipe for this soup, you can just add what you like - so I have sometimes added bean sprouts, shittake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and/or about 2 tsp of sake. You can even add fish.

Tofu and wakame miso soup is the type of miso soup most often served in Japanese restaurants. If you want, you can dress it up a little bit by adding enoki mushrooms, or other vegetables of your choice.

Don't ignore the warning about the seaweed! When I first used this recipe, I though 'Oh, I've never tried this seaweed, I think I'll add a little extra - just to make sure I taste it'. LOL - it is quite strong, but that was not the real problem - this stuff expands at an amazing rate. Ever seen the film 'The Blob' !

If you don`t add the miso carefully, your soup will end up lumpy. I add the miso to a small bowl, scoop up some of the simmering soup and stir around the miso until some of it dissolves, pour it back into the pot, stir it around, and then repeat until all of the miso dissolves.

As a rule of thumb, for each cup of dashi, use about 1 tablespoon of miso (use 2 or 3 tablespoons if using a sweet miso).

Tofu & Wakame Miso Soup

SERVES 3-4
3 1/2 cups dashi
1 tablespoon dried wakame, soaked in water for 5 minutes then drained
3 tablespoons miso (I use 2 tablespoons shiro miso and 1 tablespoon aka miso)
5 ? 7 ounces firm tofu, cut into 3/8-inch cubes

optional extras
1 package enoki mushrooms (about 3 ounces), trimmed
1/2 cup chopped daikon (I use mouli (large, elongated, white radish))
1/2 cup carrots
chopped green onions

Bring the dashi to a boil in a saucepan.

Put the wakame in the water and let it slowly simmer for 20 mins, or as per instructions. The longer you simmer it the less sharp its taste will be. If you are cooking daikon, carrots, or onions, put them in for around the last 10 mins for onions and daikon and about the last 5-6 mins for the carrots.

Once the vegetable mixture is cooked, make sure it is cooking at a slow simmer. Take a small strainer and place it just in the soup. Take spoonfuls of miso and mash them through the strainer into the soup. This is way better than plopping miso into the pot and trying to distribute it evenly. Many people feel that cooking miso destroys the favorable digestive enzymes, in any event, do not boil it at this stage.

If you are using tofu, add it at the very end - you needn't cook it, just get it up to soup temperature. Alternatively, simply divide the tofu between 3 or 4 bowls and then ladle the soup over the tofu when it is finished.

Garnish with the chopped green onions and serve immediately.

Notes

Miso

There are hundreds of different types of miso due to miso being made with different combinations of grains and beans, or soybeans only, and different lengths of fermentation time.

Each region of Japan has its own type of miso (fermented soybean paste) as a result of its particular climate and eating customs. For example, hatchomiso is a sweet soybean miso that is particular to Aichi Prefecture.

Although miso is often classified as either light or dark, there are many shades in between.

Dark miso means any kind of aka miso (aka means red and refers to red/brown colored miso). Darker miso tends to be saltier and more robust in flavor.

Light miso means any kind of shiro miso (shiro means white and refers to pale yellow/creamy beige colored miso). Lighter miso tends to be sweeter in flavor and lower in salt content.

You can use more than one kind of miso in a recipe, blending different kinds of miso is called awase miso.

Miso should be stored in a cool, dark place. After a container of miso has been opened it will usually keep unspoiled in the refrigerator for 6 months or more

After miso soup sits for a few minutes, the miso separates from the dashi; just stir to re-mix.

If you want to have miso soup over a few days, put miso only in the portion of the vegetable soup that you wish to eat at that time. It keeps better without the miso in it. Traditionally, Japanese people have miso soup more in the morning than the evening so you may want to experiment with having this for breakfast with a little rice and pickled vegetables.

Wakame

Wakame is a strong seaweed. It also expands to many, many times its dry size when re-hydrated. Be very conservative the first time you use it. Most health food and Japanese/Asian stores sell it already cut into little 3/4" squares and dried into tiny "crumbles". This is the best kind to use. If you buy it in "sheet" form you will have to hydrate it and then cut it into squares which adds time to the recipe. Enjoy!

Images (and some tips) from lafujimama.com

Quick Miso Soup

No need for powdered packets here: Just pack a thermos with veggies, tofu, and miso in the morning. Come snacktime, you're a cupful of water and a couple of minutes away from a delicious, bone-warming soup.

From: bonappetit

2 tablespoons grated carrot
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely diced silken tofu
1 tablespoon white miso
Smoked Salt Furikake (see below), for serving

Combine all ingredients in a travel mug. To serve, pour 8 oz. boiling water into the cup and stir until miso is well blended. Let sit 2 minutes before eating.

Smoked Salt Furikake

Make this yourself, or find furikake in Asian supermarkets or some better-stocked grocery stores.

From: bonappetit

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons bonito flakes (available at most Asian groceries or health food stores)
1 sheet toasted nori, torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon smoked sea salt, divided

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently and remove when pale golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Let cool.

In a small food processor, spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, grind the nori, bonito, plus half the salt into a fine powder. Stir together with the cooled toasted seeds and remaining salt.

Store in an airtight container.

Miso Tips

From http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/common-mistakes-miso-soup

1. Use quality Miso
With a soup that requires so few ingredients, the quality of each one really matters.

2. Use Dashi rather than stock cubes
The vegetal, briny flavor of the seaweed in Dashi enhances the funky, salty miso in a way that typical broth just can’t.

3. Use silken Tofu
Save the extra-firm for your stir-fries, silken tofu, which has the consistency of a thick pudding, melts into the broth, giving it body and depth.

4. Don't Sauté the Vegetables
Sautéd vegetables will give the soup a greasy texture. Instead, slice and chop the vegetables small and thin enough so that they’ll cook rapidly with a quick boil in the broth. Add garnishes, like scallions, chopped spring onions, or chives just before serving so that they don't wilt.

5. Add Miso at the end
Adding miso too soon to boiling water will kill the probiotics in the miso. Wait until the soup has been taken off the heat and then stir or whisk in miso to taste. The paste-like texture will melt into the soup thanks to the residual heat of the stock.

6. Don't Add the Miso Directly to the Soup
Like making a roux, mix the miso with a bit of the warm broth and whisk it so that it dissolves fully, then pour it back into the warm broth.

7. Serve immediately