Miso Soup

I love miso soup. It is easy to make once you have all the ingredients and just as good as that served in Japanese restaurants.

First, you need dashi. To make this, follow the instructions in my last post - 'Japanese Noodle Soup' - or, if you already made a batch for the soup, save the strained ingredients, add them to 1 qt of water and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes. If you have any more bonito flakes, add up to about 1/3 oz, remove from the heat ands allow to stand 1 minute (if not, skip this step), then strain.

Put 2-3 tbsp miso in a small bowl and whisk in a little warm dashi to make a paste. Make sure the dashi is off the heat (it should be hot but not boiling) and stir the miso paste into the dashi. Add garnishes if desired - I like tofu cubes, wakame seaweed (follow instructions on package to rehydrate) and sliced scallions - and serve.

This should yield 2 good-sized servings of soup.

Note 1 - Instant dashi granules can be purchased instead of making it. These are not as good but are more convenient.

Note 2 - The ingredients for miso soup can be found at a well-stocked Asian market or higher-end supermarket.

Note 3 - Metric info: 1 qt = about 1 litre; 1/3 oz = 10g.