Miso Soup with Tofu

Finally, cold weather is creeping in with possibilities of snow. I was waiting for the snow to start falling down, as well as my kids. The other day my youngest one says” but…but mom it’s December where is the snow?”

Funny and smart little man but how to explain to a 6-year old that he might just see the glimpse of the white blanket on the ground. 

But let’s get back to the soup…
My family eats a lot of soup on a daily bases. We have to have a bowl of warm soup each and every day, no matter what kind.

It might be just ramen from the cup done in 5 min. or some gourmet soup that take some time to cook. Soups are a staple of our household. 

Just last week I had a “Shiro miso” soup from the package, and I loved it since I didn’t have to do much of a cooking and didn’t feel well enough to cook, but this weekend I made stock and kept it in the fridge for later use, which was fast for me to make a soup in a few minutes. 
This miso soup was just slightly changed in measurements that I experimented according to my taste but it’s not extreme change from her original recipe. 

What is Shiro-miso? 
It is Japanese white fragmented bean paste. 

In Japan, soups are eaten every day and Shiro miso soup served with steamed rice is the most simple and delicious soup, not to mention healthy. 

Dashi is essential for Japanese cooking. It is like bouillon cube in Western cooking to make the flavor of the dish richer and tastier.

Dashi is a basic stock made from variation of dry ingredients, and to name most common ones such as dry Kelp or you might saw as a Kombu, Bonito flakes (Katsuobushi-dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna used extensively in Japanese cuisine, where it is known as katsuo), and/or Shiitake dashi made from soaked Shiitake Mushrooms. 

All those could be easily found in Japanese markets, as well in larger International stores or of course online.  

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Miso Soup with Tofu

slightly adapted from Just One Cookbook

Course Soup

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword soup, asian food, japanese,

Author Sandra | Sandra’s Easy Cooking

Ingredients

• 4 Cups of Dashi
• 1 Tbs. Soy sauce
• 3 Tbs. Shiro Miso Paste
• 1 Cup firm tofu diced into small cubes
• 2 Wakame-Seaweed  soaked (it’s not nori) *optional
• 2-3 Scallions chopped

Instructions

1. Bring stock(dashi) to boil and stir in soy sauce.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix about 1/4 cup of the warm stock into the miso paste with a wire whisk until the miso is dissolved.
3. Pour this mixture back into the remaining stock and stir.
4. Soak the wakame in a hot water until soft/or you can boil it for a minute or two.
5. Place scallions, cubed tofu, and soaked wakame into bowls and gently ladle soup into the bowls.

Dashi:

1. 1 Dried Kelp(Kombu)
2. 1 Handful Bonito Flakes
3. 6 Cups of water

Dashi Directions:

1. Wipe the kombu(Dried Kelp).
2. Put water in a pot and soak kombu in the water for about 15 minutes.
3. Put the pot on low heat to simmer and remove the kombu just before the water boils. Add katsuobushi(bonito flakes).
4. Remove any foam that rises to the surface, and turn off the heat.
5. Let it set until bonito flakes sink on the bottom.
6. Strain the stock through the clean thin cloth or thick paper towel.
7. *Dashi can be stored in airtight jars or containers and in the fridge for later use for up to 5 days.
8. Cool way to preserve the flavor, you can pour dashi in the ice-cube dishes and freeze–for serving or two you would just need to drop them in the pot with water to flavor some other dishes.

Recipe Notes

Difference between Wakame and Nori: Nori is red algae and it is pulped and laid out to dry in thin, paper-like sheets, cut into squares, where wakame is simply dried whole seaweed and not pulped. However, wakame can be found fresh and in sealed packages in refrigerated sections. Nori is meant to be eaten dry and used for sushi, garnishes, snacks however wakame is tough if dried, made out of the brown seaweed and it has to be soaked/or boiled. If you are vegetarian/vegan use Shiitake dashi instead of katsuobushi (bonito flakes).