Miso Soup

I’m not really sure which crazy conversation or thought prompted me to seek out how to make Miso Soup, but here we are! Marc and I enjoy sushi and miso soup is a natural accompaniment at most restaurants. It seemed simple enough and this was confirmed when I found the recipe in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. First you start with dashi, a simple stock made with kelp and dried bonito flakes. After that, Mark offers several variations of add-ins depending on your taste. I’ll share the combo that I used with some other options.

Dashi

From Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

Makes: 8 Cups Time: 15 minutes

1 piece dried kelp (kombu), 4-6 inches long

1/2-1 C. dried bonito flakes

Combine the kelp and 8 cups water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil; as soon as it is about to, turn off the heat and remove the kelp. Immediately add the bonito flakes and stir; let sit for a couple of minutes, then strain. Use the dashi immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Miso Soup

Makes: 4 cups

4 C. dashi (recipe above)

1/3 C. any miso

1/4 C. chopped scallion

4 oz. diced soft tofu

1 C. wakame or other sea greens

Other options: 1 C. chopped greens (instead of wakame) and/or 1 C. shiitake mushroom caps

If you decide to make the miso right after you prepared the dashi, heat the saucepan until soup is hot and then add the miso. This will help the miso to dissolve and once it does, add your other toppings. My soup had become cold by the time I was ready for the add-ins since it was never brought to a boil when making the dashi. Serve and enjoy!

Now, as you can imagine, wakame, kombu, miso and bonito flakes are not on my every day shopping list, so I did have to seek these items out. This is where the adventure started. They will definitely be available in an Asian market, but I found my ingredients at Whole Foods. I was having a bit of trouble finding the miso and asked the guy stocking the shelves where I could find it. He led me to the Asian food aisle and showed me the three varieties of miso pastes. He then pointed to the box of instant miso and said I could save myself a bunch of trouble by picking that box up. After a quick laugh, I told him I was on a quest and that at least it would be an adventure. He told me to report back and I’m not sure what I’ll tell him.

The soup was tasty and easy, but I had trouble getting over the strange odors that smacked me in the face when I opened the pouches of bonito flakes, sea greens and miso paste. I also found the items I had to purchase to be quite expensive. Each pouch cost $5-$7 and while I’m sure I can make miso soup for days,  I was still surprised by the cost.  If you want to try your own miso soup adventure, follow the easy steps Mark Bittman spells out and let me know how it turns out.