If you're anything like me and love miso soup, you probably always thought this tasty traditional Japanese soup was super complicated and time consuming to make. Well, if that's the case, let me put you at ease by telling you that this is one of the fastest and easiest soups to make at home and it tastes just as good as the one from your favorite restaurant. This recipe is also super dynamic, so feel free to add or remove ingredients based on your liking.
Base Ingredients
4 cups Water
2 teaspoons Dashi Seasoning (more if you want a stronger flavor)
4 tablespoons Miso Paste (more if you want a stronger flavor)
2 Green Onions (thinly sliced)
Optional Ingredients of your choice (I marked the ones I always add)
Optional Ingredients
BEFORE bringing dashi to a boil
Carrot
Clams
Daikon radish
Kabocha squash/pumpkin
Manila clams
Onion
Potato
Turnip
AFTER dashi is boiling
Aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)
Bean sprouts
Cabbage/napa cabbage
Egg (mix drop into soup and let cook without touching)
Eggplant
Mushrooms such as enoki, maitake, nameko, shiitake, shimeji, etc (I usually go with enoki)
Negi (long green onion/leeks)
Okra
Somen noodles
Spinach
Firm Tofu (cut into cubes)
Nori Sheet (cut into pieces)
Yuba (soybean curd)
Directions
Mix water and dashi in a pot
Add any optional ingredient that should be added before the dashi boils.
Bring water to a boil and lower the heat to keep the soup at a simmer.
Add in the miso paste dissolving it into the broth (I like putting the paste in a small fine strainer, lowering the strainer slightly so the paste is inside the water and stirring inside the strainer until all the paste is dissolved)
Add in the green onions and your other optional ingredients of choice inside the after boil category.
Lower the heat and keep the soup in the fire for a couple minutes (or until optional ingredients are cooked to taste)
Serve.