Cooking with Nico and Bianca: Miso soup

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Miso soup

I love this Japanese soup – salty broth with the miso flavor, tofu and uncooked vegetables. Miso soup is served with nearly every meal in Japan, including breakfast. It is very simple and quick to make, nutritious and low in calories.In Japan the people who are known for living long, healthy lives, over 100 years old, drink miso soup every morning. The characteristic that defines miso soup is that the miso paste is mix with a fish stock called Dashi. All the other ingredients are added depending on personal preference.
Miso is a thick paste made from fermenting and ageing(10 months to a year for miso to be ready) soybean and/or rice.The ratio for miso and water is 1 tablespoon of miso paste per 250ml of water and is enough for 1 serving. The most important thing about making miso soup is that you never boil the miso paste because boiling it will kill the enzymes. Only add miso after you’ve turned off the heat. If you are using anything that needs a little cooking time, just do that before you add the miso paste.
Dashi is Japanese style fish or vegetables stock, which is the base of many Japanese dishes, such as soup or dipping sauce. It can be made from dried small sardines or dried bonito for fish stock and kombu (dried kelp) or dried shitake mushroom for a vegetables version. In this recipe I use instant fish Dashi. If you don't have Dashi, you could use some fish or chicken stock. Here is my version of this lovely soup.
For 4 serves.
- 1l of water.
- 4 Tbsp red miso paste.
- 2 teaspoons instant dashi.
- dash of soya sauce.
- 200g tofu cubed.
- 50g sprouts.
- 20g coriander.
- 4 shitake mushroom sliced - I use from conserve.
- 100g daikon( white radish),tiny slice.
- 1 red chili pepper slice.
- 2 pack choy salad sliced in half.

Pour the water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the instant dashi and soya sauce and whisk to dissolve then turn the heat off. Place the miso paste in a small bowl and add 2-3 Tbsp of the hot water to the miso and whisk thoroughly, to a smooth paste. Then whisk the miso mixture back into the pot, and stir well.
In the individuals bowls and add tofu, mushrooms, sprouts, coriander,daikon radish, pock choy and red chili. Ladle hot broth into a bowl over vegetables and whisk with chopsticks to mix.