Making delicious traditional Japanese miso soup at home is very easy! As a daily tonic of the diet, homemade miso soup is delightful and brings many great health benefits. The chefs of Sanarku have share a recipe how to make miso soup at home using various ingredients. But first, let’s talk about little details.
What is miso soup?
It is a traditional Japanese soup prepared from softened miso from fermented soybean paste and fish known as dashi.
This easy-to-make soup has a high protein content and is filled with the versatility to customize it to everyone’s tastes and what they have in their home.
There are many variations in miso soup, and every recipe has excellent taste and nutritional value.
What is miso soup made of?
Miso soup has three main types: white, yellow, and red. Miso is suitable for almost everyone because the fermentation of soybeans aids digestion and offers excellent probiotics.
I like white miso (far right in the image above). You can get all the ingredients you need for miso soup recipes at Japanese grocery stores and Asian restaurants.
How to Make Miso Soup?
The method is very simple. First, boil kelp and dried bonito to make a base for the soup stock. Filter well. Boil dashi stock, add tofu and seaweed and cook for almost 3 minutes.
Turn off the stove and keep stirring until the paste melts.
Tip: Do not boil the miso.
Place chopped shallot and enjoy immediately. Japanese miso soup is healthy, low in calories, so perfect for people on a diet.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
It depends on your choice—a few options like enjoying steamed rice, healthy Japanese food, and a quick weekday supper.
Recipe 1: Miso soup by using tofu and seaweed
Ingredients:
- Dried wakame ½ cup (seaweed)
- Shiro miso ¼ cup (soybean paste fermented)
- Dashi 6 cups
- Soft tofu ½ pound
- Thinly sliced scallion greens ¼ cup
- Instructions:
Step 1
Mix wakame seaweed with lukewarm water, cover 1 inch, and leave for 15 minutes or a few more minutes. Drain with a strain.
Prepare the soup.
Step 2
Put 1/2 cup of miso and dashi in a bowl and mix until smooth. Now moderately heat the remaining dashi in the pan till hot, and gently add the reconstituted tofu and wakame seaweed while keeping stringing. Cook for 1 minute and turn off the stove. Immediately mix miso and green shallot.
Pour the soup into a bowl; it is ready to serve.
Recipe 2: Miso Soup with Greens and Tofu
Inspired interpretation of Japanese miso soup with plenty of tofu, green onions, and vegetables. It takes only 15 minutes from the beginning to the end and is very easy to make, soothing, and flavorful.
Ingredients:
- Vegetable soup 4 cups (use Dashi stock for more traditional miso soup)
- 1 sheet of seaweed (dried seaweed and optional)
- 3-4 tablespoons of yellow or white paste (chickpea paste or fermented soybean) with dried bonito (dried bonito will be non-vegetarian, but fish flavor)
- Chopped green chard or other green vegetables of your choice 1/2 cup
- Chopped green onions chickpea paste
- Boiled tofu 1/4 cup
Instructions
- Place the vegetable stock in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.
- Meanwhile, put the miso in a small bowl, add a small amount of lukewarm water and blend until smooth so that no lumps form when added to the mix.
- To the broth, add the chard (or other vegetable of your choice), the tofu and spring onion (if using silk, add after cooking), cook for 5 minutes, and then add the nori and mix well. Turn off the stove, add the mixed miso and stir to mix.
- Pour the soup into a bowl and serve it as it is or with boiled rice.
How is This Recipe Different?
I wanted to make miso soup quickly and easily, but I emphasized vegetables, so I added plenty of green onions and green onions.
A soup with plenty of miso flavor, each bite has plenty of tofu and seaweed. And for vegetable lovers like me, each bowl has more than a full serving of vegetables.
What is the best miso for soup?
As everyone has different tastes, so is true for the miso type. I like white miso for soup because I like light miso for richness and taste.
But as I mentioned before, there are no strict rules about what it is used for. It is not uncommon to use red miso to make a thick soup or mix white and red, smooth or thick. White miso has a short fermentation time, so it has a mild and sweet taste, making it ideal for seafood marinades, light soups, and salad dressings.
Red miso has a strong salty taste, is fermented for a long time, and is used for marinades of meat, thick soups, and stews.
Some miso already contains soup stock, so all you have to do is add hot water. I had a Japanese friend recommend the miso brand and told me to buy the best one. When looking at miso varieties in the Japanese market, I usually check the ingredients and buy miso only with soybeans, rice, salt, and non-GMO.
Cheers!
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