Miso Soup

This was an adventure. I kept asking my boss if he had a good recipe for miso soup. He goes, sure! It comes in a packet at the supermarket. :-/ Not what I meant, Victor. 

So I looked at recipes for a while on Pinterest and found a few. They are all similar, but I wanted to make sure I was getting as authentic as possible. No pre-made mixtures. The key to this was finding another recipe, this time for dashi. This is what goes in the broth, and it's made up of dried seaweed and fish flakes. Yeah. never seen that in a recipe before.

Now the question becomes: where the heck do I find dried seaweed, dried fish flakes, and miso paste?! Luckily, we have an Asian grocery store near my office that I could wander around aimlessly in until I found the ingredients. My boss swore they spoke English in the store. First person I asked...didn't understand my English. Eventually we found everything we needed, but, as I said, it was an adventure. 

• 2 cups water
• 2-inch piece kombu (dried black kelp)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
• 4 oz silken or firm tofu
• 1-2 scallions
• 1 Tbsp red or white miso paste

Combine the water and kombu in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Remove the kombu just as the water starts to come to a boil. Add the bonito flakes and let the water come to a rapid simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute, then remove the pan from the heat and let it steep for an additional 5 minutes. Strain the bonito from the dashi. Add more water, if necessary, to make 2 cups. 

Cut the tofu into very small cubes, 1/4 to 1/2 inch on each side. Slice scallions thinly. Pour the dashi back into the saucepan and bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat. 

In a separate bowl mix the miso paste with 1/2 cup of the broth. Whisk with a fork until miso is entirely dissolved in the water and no lumps remain. Pour the dissolved miso into the saucepan with the rest of the broth. 

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the tofu to the miso. Simmer just enough to warm the tofu, 1-2 minutes. Do not boil the miso once the tofu has been added. 

Just before serving, scatter the scallions over the top of the soup. 

NOTES: If you don't want to make the dashi, you can substitute it with 2 cups water, chicken broth or vegetable broth. 

Makes 2 cups

Total Time: 20 minutes

Recipe from https://www.thekitchn.com