Miso Soup

Miso Shiru (Japanese Miso Soup)

The everyday Japanese soup built on dashi, mellow miso, silken tofu, rehydrated wakame and a scattering of scallion. It is meant to be a soothing, savory start or companion to any meal rather than a heavy course.

Prep

5 min

Cook

10 min

Total

15 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •1000 ml (4 cups) dashi stock, kombu and bonito, or substitute dashi powder dissolved in water; homemade strongly preferred
• •4 tbsp (¼ cup) white (shiro) miso paste, or 3 tbsp white + 1 tbsp red miso for deeper flavor
• •150 g (5¼ oz) silken tofu, cut into 1.5 cm cubes; soft tofu is traditional
• •5 g (0.2 oz) dried wakame seaweed, yields about 2 tbsp rehydrated
• •2 whole scallions, thinly sliced, green and white parts
• •1 piece sheet kombu (optional), 6 g, left in pot for a few minutes then removed for extra umami

Steps

1. 1 Place dried wakame in a small bowl, cover with cool water and let rehydrate for about 5 minutes until soft and expanded. Drain and set aside.
2. 2 Pour the dashi into a medium pot, add the optional kombu if using, and heat over medium until small bubbles appear at the edge. Do not boil. Lift out the kombu and discard.
3. 3 Lower the heat so the dashi is just below a simmer. Place the miso paste in a small ladle or fine-mesh sieve, lower it into the dashi and whisk gently until fully dissolved, or place the miso in a small bowl, ladle in a little hot dashi, whisk smooth, then return to the pot. Never let the soup boil after the miso is added.
4. 4 Slide in the tofu cubes and the drained wakame. Warm through very gently for 1 to 2 minutes; do not stir vigorously or the tofu will break apart.
5. 5 Ladle into bowls, scatter the sliced scallions over the top and serve immediately.
6. 6 Food safety note: miso soup should be served hot and not reheated repeatedly. Cooked tofu held warm below 60 °C / 140 °F for more than 1 hour can encourage bacterial growth, so make only the amount you will eat and consume promptly.