miso [soup]
I wasn't intending to post this recipe, but I am at Allie's request. We enjoyed it so much at her house for lunch when she was sick, it made sense to share so everyone can enjoy.
I love miso. I've loved miso for many many years for many many reasons. My favorite application and probably the way I use it the most is simply stirred into hot water. Serious. Just like people have a sweet tooth and need to satisfy their craving, I have a salt craving that miso definitely satisfies.
For most any recipe that calls for salt, surely miso can be used.
I have brined and marinaded meat in miso. Salad dressing, sauces, and dips. Hummus. Cover your vegetables with it before roasting. Make pickled vegetables. Put it in your caramel sauce, seriously. That goes for other desserts as well. Oh yes, and soup. Miso soup.
I'm just going to go ahead and say this is not traditional miso soup. I have made traditional miso soup and it tastes like it should taste, like miso soup. This soup is very similar in flavor, but has a little more going on, more substance.
I also went ahead and used a homemade dashi for the soup base. Despite sounding complicated, its probably one of the most simple broths/stocks you could ever makes, especially compared to today's world where I have a hard time committing 48 hours to making a bone broth. Dashi, is much more quick to make and doesn't require many ingredients at all. Mine just involved kombu & dried shiitake mushrooms. Normally bonito flakes would be included as well, but I didn't think I needed that added flavor in what was supposed to be a simple miso soup. I also made a few extra quarts of dashi to pop in the freezer for other uses...
Anyways, miso soup doesn't really come to mind as a main course, or something even relatively filling, but this served not only as a very satisfying dinner, but also a very nourishing lunch the next day for a sick friend.
Side note: I know I'm mentioned that I put miso in at the very end of cooking because I don't want it to "die", but when you reheat this soup - or any soup for that matter - inevitably it's going to happen. So, yeah. Not much to do about it.
miso | daikon | tofu soup
serves 4-6
for the dashi:
1 large sheet kombu (maybe slightly smaller than a piece of paper)
1 package dried shiitake mushrooms, 10-12 mushrooms
for the soup:
1 block soft tofu (around 10-12oz package), cut into cubes
2 cups chopped daikon, cut into half-moons
1 dozen or so crimini mushrooms, quartered
1/3-1/2 cup sweet white miso paste
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
1" piece ginger, grated on a microplane
Fill a medium to large stock pot with cold water. Add the kombu and the dried shiitake mushrooms and place over high heat. Simply bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let cook for about 30 minutes. The flavor in kombu is more easily extracted in lower temperatures, and needs less time as well. Once finished, strain the dashi.
You can reserve both the spent kombu and the shiitakes instead of throwing them out! I continue to use the shiitakes in the miso soup and instead of straining them, just leave them in. As for the kombu, it makes a wonderful Korean seaweed salad when ever-so-thinly sliced and dressed simply with sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. Don't toss it, try it.
Set aside 2-3 quarts of the dashi and pack up the rest for another day.
Using the same pot, add the reserved dashi, grated ginger and garlic and bring back to a simmer. Then add the daikon and crimini mushrooms. Continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes or so, or until the daikon in creamy and soft. At that point, add the cubed tofu and scallion. Cook for another 2 minutes, just until the tofu is completely heated through.
The soup is done and I almost forgot to add the miso! Take out about 1/2 cup of the soup liquid and place in a little bowl. Using a fork, add half of the miso to the little bowl of broth and incorporate together to make a thinner paste. Add the miso back to the soup and give it a good mix. Taste before serving - if need be, add the remaining miso.
Serve alone, or along side a bowl of rice.
