The Easiest Soup You’ll Ever Make — Japanese Miso Soup

Whenever I go out to order Hibachi, I can never forget the delicious soup served on the side containing seaweed, tofu and scallions all combined into a light Dashi stock, which is then mixed with miso paste known as Miso soup.

Miso soup is considered one of the two basic kinds of soup in Japanese cuisine, and it can easily be made at home with just a few steps and ingredients. 

The soup can be elevated by adding several ingredients like mushrooms, daikon, carrots, potatoes and fish. The vegetables are cooked in the simmering dashi stock, and the miso paste gets added afterward to prevent it from cooking. 

In Japan, it is typically served with a side of white rice for breakfast!

In the United States, miso soup is readily available at many Japanese restaurants, but if you’d rather skip a few steps, instant miso soup packets are frequently sold at local grocery stores or Asian food markets. 

However, if you’d like to learn how to make this soup for yourself, follow the recipe below!

Recipe:

1. Combine wakame with warm water to cover by 1 inch and let stand 15 minutes, or until reconstituted. Drain in a sieve.
2. Stir together miso and 1/2 cup dashi in a bowl until smooth. 
3. Heat remaining dashi in a saucepan over moderately high heat until hot, then gently stir in tofu and reconstituted wakame. Simmer for 1 minute and remove from heat. 
4. Immediately stir in miso mixture and scallion greens and serve.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dried wakame (a type of seaweed)
• 1/4 cup shiro miso (white fermented-soybean paste)
• 6 cups Dashi
• 1/2 pound soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens