Miso Soup: Comfort Food
The past few weeks have been quite harrying for me and more than once, I found myself hankering for a big bowl of miso soup. What can I say? This, for me, is one of the best things to have when I need comfort food.
Japanese miso is perhaps the most popular soup that is included in their meals. It goes with anything, really. Miso is basically soy bean paste and is used as a base for the soup. Other ingredients are added to the soup, which is light and at the same time hearty, especially if fish is added to it.
There are different variants to miso, but here is one that I normally use. It is very basic and the ingredients can be found at most Japanese grocery stores.
Ingredients:
Miso paste (red)
Leeks
Japanese silken tofu
Salt
White fish cubes
Here’s how to make it:
Boil about 4 cups of water. Once it reaches a boil, put 3 heaping tablespoons of the red miso paste and stir vigorously. You can use less or more of the paste, depending on your preferences. Let the soup simmer for a minute and then add the fish cubes. Let it simmer for another 3 minutes and then put the leeks and the tofu in. Stir the soup again and let it simmer for another minute. Add salt to taste.
It would be better with some seaweed and some dashi stock – this adds more taste – but sometimes dashi is hard to find in my area. Sometimes I also add a bit of onion for added taste.
Do you like this article? Submit it to Blogosphere News!
Posted October 15th, 2010 by Maki | Comments (5)5 Responses to “Miso Soup: Comfort Food”
Leave a Reply
I really love to eat lots of different kinds of soup specially vegetable based soups.;,`
i love all sorts of soup but my most favorite soup is none other chicken or beef soup.~~;
Miso is great and my favourite soup. I love it when my Japanese wife makes it.
However, a word of caution, don’t add any salt!
Miso is packed full of salt. 18% of Miso is salt and unless you want to have serious coronary problems you don’t need anymore. And I’m being serious.
According to Dr. Yamamoto of Japan’s National Cancer Centre, “Very generally speaking there is a perception that the traditional Japanese diet is very healthy” but he added that “eating too much miso soup was not advisable because of its high salt content.” ie: Miso is not healthy.
My Japanese wife never puts more than a tablespoon per person, and that would be being generous. When we visit Japan each year, miso is served in small bowls as an accompaniment to the meal not the meal in itself. And here you are recommending people put in 4 heaped tablespoons plus adding even more salt to taste.
Are you MAD!!! A very irresponsible post that could have serious consequences for anyone reading this with high cholesterol who decides to follow your recipe.
Just add to the above, I just phoned my wife and a recipe in a Japanese book we have, and which my wife uses, has 2-3 teaspoons per 4 cups of water (you mention 3 tablespoons per 4 cups).
Yes, this is good soup! Tried it yesterday, first attempt to make it myself…well let’s just say I know what I did wrong
Just discovered this website, hopefully there’s more soup because its coooooold outside (-11 Celsius)