For a Friend : Miso Soup

I have been making Miso soup for a long time now – at least since I have lived in a city where the ingredients are available ! And frankly, that is the only difficulty : finding the stuff you need to make it.

A friend asked me for the recipe, so here goes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dashi (Japanese seafood stock) –OR– 1 oz. packet dried bonito flakes + 2 cups water –OR– 2 cups seafood stock
• 4 tablespoons white or yellow miso paste
• 1 large sheet of kombu (dried kelp)
• 1 large shiitake mushroom , thinly sliced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 ounce tofu, cut into small cubes (optional)

You could probably substitute any other kind of dried seaweed for the kombu, or any other mushroom for the shiitake, but there is no substitute that I am aware of for the miso paste.

If you can’t find the dashi stock already made, you can use the 2 cups water plus the bonito flakes. Simply heat the water to boiling, and the flakes. Remove from heat and allow to cool and steep for about an hour. Pour the broth through a strainer to remove the flakes and you have your broth. To make a simple seafood stock, you can take the 2 cups of water and add 2 large shrimp, and the head from a bold fish or your choosing. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook for about 30 minutes, on low heat.  Strain the broth to remove the fish parts. Any of these 3 methods will work, but the 1st and 2nd ones are preferred.

When you have the broth, simply add the other ingredients, and cook slowly over low heat, until the seaweed is tender and the mushroom is cooked, about 20 minutes.