Miso Soup

The Recipe:

Miso Soup

12 ounce block firm silken tofu
2 quarts dashi
6 tablespoons dark or red miso
2 tablespoons light or white miso
4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Wrap the tofu in two layers of paper towels and lay on a plate. Invert a second plate on top of the tofu and weigh down with a 28 ounce can. Leave for 20 minutes then cut the tofu into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes.
2. Heat the dashi in a 4 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When the dashi reaches 100 degrees F on an instant read thermometer, ladle 1 cup into a small bowl. Add the miso and whisk until smooth.
3. Bring the remaining dashi to a bare simmer, approximately 10 minutes. Add the miso mixture and whisk to combine. Return to a light simmer, being careful not to boil the mixture. Add the tofu and scallions and cook for another minute or until heated through. Remove from heat, ladle into soup bowls and serve immediately.

Prep time: 30 minutes          Cook time: 10 minutes         Serves: 8

 

Where do I find this? Many of you may be wondering where to find such things such as miso and dashi. Unfortunately, your local grocery store is probably unable to find it. However, Asian and world food markets will have what you are looking for. Both the miso and the dashi ought to be found in the Japanese isle.  The miso will be refrigerated.

I can't find it. What do I do? If you can't find the miso paste, you are out of luck. Sorry, you cannot make miso soup without miso. Dashi is supposed to be liquid here. However, I was only able to find dry dashi. If you can only find the latter, for every quart of water, add 1 teaspoon of dry dashi. If you cannot find dashi of any kind, do not worry. The miso soup still can be made without the dashi.

The Cook's Comments:

Simplicity

It's so easy that I have made this several times within minutes. I was even sick during one of these times. If a miserable and sick person can make it, it must be easy.

Complications and Suggestions

The only complications that arose was finding some of the ingredients. As stated earlier, I was only able to find dry dashi, but that was easy enough to fix (1 teaspoon dashi for every quart of water). I also ended up just chopping the scallions instead and thought it was just as good. 

Taste

Personally, I love the red/white miso blend with the dashi and found it to be the perfect miso soup mix. However, the dashi might not be to everyone's taste

Other Comments

Again, I, personally, find simple miso soup to be the best. I have found adding seaweed or leeks to the soup to be just as delicious, but feel free to try other ingredients as well.