CIBI Recipe: How to make Miso Soup

Miso shiru (miso soup) is an everyday soup that accompanies rice. Every family has a signature recipe, adding tofu, wakame, vegetables and more. It is the soul of Japan; no matter where you are, you'll feel at home when sipping miso soup. You start by making dashi (stock), which adds wonderful flavour to miso soup and many other dishes in the 

BASIC MISO SOUP
SERVES 4

• 150 g (5½ oz) silken tofu, cubed
• 2 tablespoons dried wakame seaweed flakes, soaked in water and drained
• 60 g (2 oz) white or red miso
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion (scallions), to garnish

 

DASHI

• 10 x 5 cm (4 x 2 in) piece of kombu
• approximately 1 handful (7-8 g/ / oz/1 cup) bonito flakes

 

Make the dashi

1. Combine 1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) water and the kombu in a large saucepan and simmer over low heat. Just before the water starts to boil, remove the kombu.
2. Add the bonito flakes to the saucepan*. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, and gently skim any foam from the surface using a fine-mesh strainer. Don't stir - doing so will make it bitter.
3. Turn off the heat and drain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard the bonito flakes. Dashi will keep in the fridge for 2 days and can be frozen in resealable bags.

Make the miso soup

1. Bring the dashi to a boil, add the tofu and wakame and cook for a couple of minutes over low-medium heat. 
2. Turn off the heat and blend the miso into the soup gently, using a miso koshi or fine-mesh strainer, or place the miso on a ladle, lower it into the soup and stir with chopsticks until the miso has dissolved.
3. Simmer the soup over low heat. Just before it starts to boil**, turn the heat off. Garnish the soup with the spring onion and serve. 

CIBIMEMO

*Other classic Japanese dashi add-in options are dried shiitake mushrooms and niboshi (small dried anchovies). To make vegetarian dashi, leave out the bonito flakes.

**Don't let your miso soup heat above 95°C (200°F) - boiling soup is detrimental to its flavour. The best temperature at which to eat miso soup is around 75°C (170°F)