Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup made with dashi and miso paste. It is commonly garnished with tofu, wakame seaweed and sliced green onions. Miso soup is typically served with most Japanese meals, along with a bowl of steamed rice.
Steps
1
Preparing Your Mise en Place
Ingredients
3 cups Vegetarian Dashi
6 oz (approx 3/4 cup) soft tofu, cut into 1/2" dice
2 tsp wakame seaweed
1 green onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp shiro miso* (white fermented-soybean paste - see note in Step 2)
To prepare your mise en place, first prepare the Vegetarian Dashi.
Next, prepare the tofu and seaweed. To prepare the seaweed, soak in water for 10 to 15 minutes. Once it has rehydrated, drain well.
Lastly, slice the green onions and gather the miso paste.
2
Making & Serving the Miso Soup
Ingredients
soy sauce, optional
To prepare the soup, heat the kombu dashi over medium low heat, once it is hot, add the miso paste and whisk to combine. Taste for seasoning.
*Note: miso paste varies in saltiness, depending on the brand and type used (e.g. red/aka miso, white/shiro miso, mixed/awase miso); therefore, it's important to adjust the amount of miso, based on your preference.
Next, add the tofu to the stock and bring to a very gentle simmer. Once hot, remove from the heat.
To serve the soup, place a bit of the seaweed and green onion in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle in the hot stock. Serve immediately. If desired, add a bit of soy sauce, for added flavor and color.
8 Comments
Quin J•
I sure do love Miso and after finding this recipe I made some soup better then the one I found at stores
Hi Janet - thanks for your question. Indeed, you can freeze the base soup but I would suggest always adding fresh green onions and sea-weed as freezing tends the texture and aroma of those 2 ingredients...I've had good luck freezer firmer tofu but try it both ways (freezing the tofu and just adding to the reheated broth). I sense that you will enjoy adding tofu after you reheat rather than freezing. I hope this helps - thanks for cooking with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
I really like this recipe and learning about how to prep the daiku makes the flavour. I strain the soup after adding the miso, is that what chefs do too?
Kate, miso soup is not strained after adding the miso. However, the miso is commonly added to the dashi by placing it in a small strainer and dissolving it in the dashi. By doing so, the miso paste breaks down evenly and any hard pieces (depending on the variety of miso) will be strained out, if desired.
Hi Riaz, as soy sauce is not a traditional ingredient in miso soup, it is listed as an optional ingredient. Please add it a little at a time "to taste," according to your preference.
Janet C •Is this ok to freeze or make ahead and reheat? I am making it for a client, and I cook ahead for her twice a week.
Kirk B •Hi Janet - thanks for your question. Indeed, you can freeze the base soup but I would suggest always adding fresh green onions and sea-weed as freezing tends the texture and aroma of those 2 ingredients...I've had good luck freezer firmer tofu but try it both ways (freezing the tofu and just adding to the reheated broth). I sense that you will enjoy adding tofu after you reheat rather than freezing. I hope this helps - thanks for cooking with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
Kate G •I really like this recipe and learning about how to prep the daiku makes the flavour. I strain the soup after adding the miso, is that what chefs do too?