Things have been a little sniffle-y around our house. First it was me and now Trey is feeling under the weather. Gross. In my mind the very best remedy to fight off a (possible) oncoming cold: plenty of sleep, lots of water and steaming bowls of soup.
The post is about the soup. But doesn’t a whole blog post about sleeping a lot or drinking a lot of water sound just riveting? 🙂
Actually, a whole blog post about water and sleep might just put you to sleep. And if you’re not feeling well, then I’d really be helping you out.
So… you’re welcome. I digress. Let’s make miso soup.
Miso soup starts with dashi, a kind of fish stock. Most homemade stocks can take hours to make, but dashi is quick and easy. If you have a hard time finding the ingredients where you live, you could try substituting the dashi with store bought fish stock (low sodium is best). Not exactly the same thing, but in a pinch it will still be very, very yummy.
Dashi, makes 5 cups.
2-3 strips kombu
5 cups water
1 1/2 cups bonito flakes
In a medium size pot combine the kombu and water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Remove the kombu (I used tongs). Add in the bonito flakes and seep until they sink to the bottom (3-4 minutes). Strain out the bonito flakes. The end.
Easy Homemade Miso Soup, serves two as a meal or four as a starter.
5 cups dashi
1/4 cup miso paste (I used shiro)
3-4 tablespoons chopped green onions
3-4 oz. cubed tofu (extra firm)
Dissolve the miso paste in 1/2 cup dashi. Use a whisk or rubber spatula. In a pot combine the remaining 4 1/2 cups dashi, 1/2 dashi/miso mixture and the cubed tofu. Cook over medium heat until the tofu is warmed through. Add the green onions a minute or two before serving. 
If you want to make this an even more substantial meal try adding cooked ramen or udon noodles. You could also try adding cooked shrimp or soup friendly veggies. This really is so simple and so, so good. Make some soup this week or try my Miso and Garlic Butter Noodles! xo. Emma
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Ingredients
- 5 cups dashi
- ¼ cup miso paste (I used shiro)
- 3-4 tablespoons green onions (chopped)
- 3-4 oz. cubed tofu (extra firm)
For the dashi:
- 2-3 strips kombu
- 5 cups water
- 1 ½ cups bonito flakes
Instructions
For the dashi:
- In a medium size pot combine the kombu and water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Remove the kombu (I used tongs). Add in the bonito flakes and seep until they sink to the bottom (3-4 minutes). Strain out the bonito flakes.
- Dissolve the miso paste in 1/2 cup dashi. Use a whisk or rubber spatula. In a pot combine the remaining 4 1/2 cups dashi, 1/2 dashi/miso mixture and the cubed tofu. Cook over medium heat until the tofu is warmed through. Add the green onions a minute or two before serving.
Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman
I love this recipe! Have cooked it 3 times in the last month and it just keeps getting better . Thank you!
Mmmm! Can’t wait to try out the recipe. I love Miso soup!
We make this a lot, although I’ve never seen miso come in a package like that. I don’t know if it’s just because I live in LA but I get a tub of miso for about $3.50, and it lasts us a few months (they usually say they’re good for like 3 mo). I appreciate the fish stock recipe, but its also really easy and good with chicken or vegetable stock. Btw miso is super good for regulating lady hormones! Out favorite is to throw in some soba, tofu, eggs and garden greens
thanks for sharing this Emma, I’m looking for it :]
yayy miso soup!
For vegetarians and vegans, you can omit the bonito flakes and just use a pure konbu base.
Also, I hope you don’t just discard the bonito flakes and konbu after you used them to make dashi.
If you spread the flakes out to dry, they make a great topping for salad etc. We usually sprinkle them on top of either blanched spinach or silken tofu and add a dash of shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) for a super simple side dish.
With the konbu, there are many uses, but my favourite is to cut it into thin strips and mix it with a little bit of Japanese mayonnaise and stone ground mustard. Makes a great little amuse bouche salad. However, you can also just cut it up and add it back into the soup!
Oh man oh man, Miso soup is pretty much a wonderfully easy comfort food. To make this mostly broth soup a little more substantial, I cook small pieces of Japanese sweet potatoes and onions in the dashi broth before adding the miso.
Good!!!
I’ve always been curious about how difficult this would be to make! Now I need to try and find the ingredients.
I looooooveeeee miso soup!!!!! Always wanted to try to make it! Yay! thank you!
I love Miso soup!
Miso soup is one of my favorites! I eat it often, especially in the winter. One note, you should add the miso in just before you serve it as it keeps all the vitamins/minerals active. Over cooking them can kill all that goodness 🙂 Just a tip!
I was about to say this. Never boil the miso paste if you want it to keep its properties. If you cook it, it will still be delicious to the taste though. So when making the soup, heat the broth and vegetables only, then lower the heat so that the soup is not boiling anymore, then take a bit of the broth in a bowl and dissolve your miso in it before pouring it back to the pot, as said before, or use a little sieve in which you place the miso and delay it with a spoon directly in the soup. If having leftlovers of soup, heat it very gently so that it doesn’t boil 🙂
Maybe this is a dumb question but I’m curious, if it’s bad etiquette to add the rice to the soup, so you just serve plain rice along with the soup? I always love hearing about the traditional way dishes are prepared or served.
-Emma
Bookmarked for next week menus! Thanks !
This really does look easy, thanks for sharing and I hope you all feel better soon 🙂
Sophie
http://what-sophie-said.blogspot.co.uk/
xxx
MMMMM I love miso – HAVE to make this. Now im drooling.. thanks haha.
www.dancingthroughsunday.typepad.com
x
Simmering carrots in the dashi for a couple minutes before you add the miso is great too! I’m Japanese and I love adding extra veg to it, but the best is eating it with rice (much more suitable to the dish than noodles)! Don’t dump the rice in, though! That’s not considered good etiquette in Japan!!
Yumo! The mystery of the broth is solved! I thought I had tried everything to make it taste like the restaurant style. I am beyong excited!
Thanks ladies!
xoxo,
Lauren
http://blushingmua.blogspot.com
Girl you are amazing. I am so excited because I have been craving miso soup and this looks awesome! Did you buy the ingredients at whole foods or an Asian mart or where? I need to make this soup happen for me. Thanks!