Miso Soup
The starter to almost every Japanese meal: dashi base, miso paste whisked in off the heat, silken tofu and seaweed. Five minutes start to finish. Critical to never boil the miso once it's in.
Overview
Make dashi (or use instant), bring just to a simmer, drop in cubed silken tofu and rehydrated wakame seaweed, then whisk in miso paste off the heat. Boiling the miso destroys its delicate flavour and aroma.
Ingredients
- 800 ml water
- 10 g kombu (dried kelp), or skip and use 1 teaspoon hondashi
- 10 g bonito flakes (katsuobushi), or use hondashi
- 4 tablespoons white miso paste (or 3 tablespoons white + 1 tablespoon red for depth)
- 200 g silken tofu (cut into 1 cm cubes)
- 5 g dried wakame seaweed (rehydrated in cold water for 5 minutes, drained)
- 2 spring onions (sliced)
Method
Stage 1 - Dashi
- Combine the water and kombu in a pan. Heat slowly to JUST below boiling (about 80°C). Don't boil; kombu turns slimy.
- Remove the kombu, then add the bonito flakes. Take off the heat and let steep for 3 minutes.
- Strain through a fine sieve. (Or skip all that and dissolve 1 teaspoon hondashi in 800 ml hot water.)
Stage 2 - Build the soup
- Return the dashi to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Add the cubed tofu and rehydrated wakame. Heat for 1 minute (don't stir hard; tofu breaks).
Stage 3 - Add miso
- Take the pan off the heat.
- Place the miso in a small ladle or sieve and lower into the soup. Whisk gently against the ladle to dissolve (this avoids miso lumps).
- Don't return to the boil after adding miso.
Stage 4 - Serve
- Ladle into bowls. Scatter spring onions over.
Notes
- Don't boil after adding miso: It loses fragrance and the umami flattens. The dashi is hot enough to keep the soup warm.
- Mix red and white miso: All-white is sweet and gentle; all-red is salty and strong. Two-thirds white plus one-third red is the standard balance.
- Tofu added late: It cooks quickly, and stirring breaks the cubes. Lower it gently and let the heat do the work.
Storage
- Best fresh. Keeps 1 day refrigerated; reheat gently without boiling.
More like this
Gyudon
Thinly sliced beef simmered briefly in dashi with mirin, sake, soy and sugar, alongside sliced onion. The whole pile spooned over rice with the broth. Topped with pickled ginger and a soft-boiled egg if you like.
Honey Soy Salmon (One-Pan)
Salmon fillets sear skin-side down for crisp skin, then bathe in a quick honey-soy-mirin-ginger reduction that lacquers them. Broccoli or bok choy steams in the same pan with a splash of stock. Twenty minutes; one pan; serve over rice.
Oyakodon
Chicken thigh chunks simmer in dashi-mirin-soy broth with sliced onion until tender, beaten egg is poured in and sets in soft curds, and the lot slides over rice. The egg should still be slightly runny when the heat is turned off.
Teriyaki Salmon
Skin-on salmon fillets are seared skin-side down to crisp, flipped briefly, then bathed in a four-ingredient teriyaki glaze that reduces to a glossy lacquer. The pan-sear gives texture; the glaze gives shine and savoury sweetness.