Miso soup
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Filed under Cooking with Tofu; My recipes; Asian, Japanese, seaweeds, Superb soups
Because my husband was not feeling well yesterday and made a special request for miso soup, we had miso soup with homemade siopao last night. It was the fifth time I made miso soup and each attempt has been a learning experience — about ingredients, quality of ingredients and techniques. It’s really insane how a soup so simple in appearance could be such a challenge to make at home.
The first time I made miso soup, I used local miso — the kind you find in local markets, the kind used for cooking sinigang sa miso. I used meat broth and the result was not even remotely similar to Japanese miso soup in appearance or in taste.
You can see the deadly evidence in the photo above.
So, I read. And read. And scoured the shelves of one supermarket after another. I had read about dashi, bonito flakes and the red miso paste and I was going to find them. Easier said than done. Most Japanese food products in the local markets have Japanese labels and not all have stickers with English translations. But I managed.
The second time I made miso soup (below), it was almost perfect. I say almost because I couldn’t find dried wakame, the slimy and slippery seaweeds traditionally used for making miso soup.
I still haven’t been able to find dried wakame so I’ve been substituting different varieties of dried seaweeds (amazing how many kinds there are in the supermarkets). Aside from the wakame issue though, I’ve gotten the hang of making miso soup.
Ingredients :
8 cups of water1
1 packet of powdered dashi
1 cake of Japanese tofu2
2 heaping tsps. of miso paste
patis (fish sauce), to taste
dried wakame (like I said, I’ve been substituting whatever dried seaweeds are available), torn and soaked until soft
sliced onion leaves for garnish
Dissolve the dashi in the water and heat without allowing to reach boiling point.
Cut the tofu into half-inch cubes and add to the broth. I suggest leaving the tofu there, over low heat, to allow it to absorb the flavors of the dashi.
Take a few tablespoonfuls of the broth, add to the miso paste and stir until well-blended. Pour into the dashi broth and stir. Add the the seaweeds. Season with patis.
Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with onion leaves and serve at once.
Click the following links for more information about miso paste and powdered dashi.
Notes:
1Since the water is not allowed to reach boiling point, if you have sanitation problems with your tap water, I suggest you used filtered bottled water.
2I always thought that silken tofu was used for making miso soup. And I did use silken tofu with my first attempts. Then, I discovered Japanese tofu. The texture and flavor are different.
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Hi Connie!
Would you like me to send you some dried wakame? There’s plenty back here and it would cost next to nothing to send it through mail. Just drop me a note.
Doddie
hi connie. i’m a constant visitor of website and tried some of your recipes and the’re all good and yummy!!! about wakame seaweeds you can buy the at new gensan mart in makati and i just bought them last week since i’m into korean foods now…. keep up the good work!!!!!
Ayy, Connie I think we are of same vibrations lately, kasi lahat ng iniisip kong lutuin (but had failed before) eh niluluto mo lately.. and you have succeeded. With this miso soup, fortunately all the ingredients you were looking for ay mabibili ko rito. So, thanks ma-i-ta-try ko na ulit ang pagluto ng soup na ito without failure. And I will also use silken tofu. Thanks talaga. I love this soup whenever we go to a sushi restaurant.
my daughter love’s miso soup, i can’t wait to make my own. thank you for sharing your recipe, connie.
Doddie, thanks! Finally found wakame. Deciphering the label was oh, my gosh! but I found it! LOL
Maricel, thanks! Found it in a small supermarket with an huge Asian section.
Ebba, my younger daughter was just asking yesterday why all the Asian dishes for the past weeks (she was pining for pasta) and, well, I just need to try new things. Otherwise, cooking can be so mechanical and there’s no fun in that.
Noemi, miso soup is fast becoming a favorite with my family too. Enjoy!
I love miso soup but I doubt if I can find the ingredients in Malta though. I have bookmarked your site and will sure to visit again soon!
Hi Ms. Connie, i always love to browse thru ur website to find some easy to cook filipino dish. I’ts good to know that ur trying other cuisine as well, specially this humble but tasty miso soup. we always have this on our table kase my hubby is a japanese. Actually, you can bring the soup in boiling point with all ingredients to make the soup tastier except when you are about to put the dissolved miso mixture in. this is when you totally have to turn-off the fire while doing so. kasi pag na-boil ang “miso paste” it will curdle and will taste overcooked. We even have it with other ingredients like crabs or thinly sliced pork belly or tuna fish. there are lots of variety i bet you will enjoy creating your signature miso soup!
Hi, I’m an American living in Japan and have been here for 20+ years. I find it a little amusing that people view miso as a “formulaic” soup because basically, anything goes! As long as you can get the miso paste and dashi powder, seriously, use whatever you have in the house. Wakame isn’t essential, and neither is tofu! I’ve had it with sliced carrots and onions, with scallions, with sliced potato, with okra…with just about anything. I bet you could use water spinach in it — I’ve had it with regular spinach. Most housewives make it as a way of using up things in the refrigerator. Also, the only thing to really learn about it is to get the balance right so it isn’t so salty. After that it’s a matter of taste — do you use white beanpaste or red, or a mix? All up to you!
Aryl and Elaine, wow, you’re really getting my adventurous spirit up. And we just ran out of dashi. LOL
a friend is an avid visitor of your site and she recommended that i visit your site. voila! you’ve got a miso soup recipe. my husband requested that i cook miso soup. he knows i use miso – the one used for sinigang na maya maya sa miso but i told him i doubt if it will taste like the miso soup in japanese restaurants. problem: i don’t know where to buy dashi.
Roselle, I buy mine from Shopwise. Landmark also sells dashi. And you can buy miso paste that already contains dashi stock both in Landmark and Shopwise.