Japanese people love miso soup.
When I was small child, my Mom used make miso soup every morning.
We ate hot steamed rice, miso soup and some pickles for breakfast.
For me "miso soup" mean my Mom's warm smile to our family.
Tofu and green onion are popular combination as ingredients for miso soup.
Let me think about another good combination.
*Potato and asparagus/ potato and onion/ cabbage and wakame(soft seaweed)/
*pork and bean sprout/salmon and white radish(thin sliced with quarter round cut)/
*somen noodle and green onion/eggplant and tofu/sliced pork and white radish(bar rectangles cut)
*ham and shitake mushrooms/chicken and shimeji mushroom/turnip and wakame/
And more more combination, I can think about ingredients for miso soup.
I feel so lucky as a Japanese whenever I enjoy delicious miso soup.
Let me show you how to make basic soup stock (dashi soup) for Japanese dishes like miso soup, noodle soup, clear soup and all in one pot soup.
I will show you two ways. "Grand Mom's way" and "Busy Mom's way"
*Grand Mom's way (all natural)
Ingredient--4 inch dried kelp, 1oz Shaved dry bonito, 4 cup Water
Direction--Wipe the kelp with a towel to clean and soak with water for 30 min in a pan ~Heat (low below 160F) and simmer for 30 min to 1 hour until small babbles appear around surface ~ turn off the heat and add the bonito ~ leave it for 30 seconds and strain the soup through a paper towl on a strainer slowly to make clear soup in a bowl.
* Busy Mom's way
Ingredient--1 Tbsp Hondashi (bonito fish flaver granulateed soup stock), 4 cup Water
Direction--Heat a pan with water and boil up~ add the hondashi ~ done! That all.
If you want to make miso soup, just add 4 Tbsp miso paste to the soup with useing a small strainer.
I love only one company's hondashi "Yamasa Tairyo Dashi"
This is a big secret for my recipe.
Yamasa's hondashi is the best natural flaver of bonito.
I hope you enjoy miso soup with "Grand Mom's way or Busy Mom's way"
Love
Keiko
2 comments:
Hello Keiko,
I came across your blog accidentally. First, I am sorry for the loss of your mother. I wish you are feeling better now.
Second, I enjoy reading your homemade recipes and I have some questions. For the miso soup, can I use Wakame to make the stock (dashi)? Or must I use Kombu? As a non Japanese I may not appreciate the subtle difference between Kombu and Wakame, so I am asking for your opinion.
And can I cut it up and include it to any of the combinations you mention (for example the pork, the potato, the salmon), or does the Wakame/Kombu taste best only with the cabbage combination?
If it is not advisable cut it up to include it in the soup in the above combinations, can I use it again for the next day's miso soup? If yes, how many times? If no, what do I do with it, other than put it in the garden?
So, to summarize:
1)May I use wakame instead of Kombu on a regular basis to make dashi?
2)May I cut up and put the above in any combo, or is it best only in the cabbage/seaweed combo?
3)If not advisable to cut up and include in the soup, may I use it in the next day's miso soup, or if not what is the best way to use it?
4)And, oh yes, I almost forgot. If I cannot or don't want to use bonito flakes everyday, is using shitake mushrooms a good alternative? Is there another alternative?
Well, I hope you don't mind my questions. I am not even sure if you will see this since you have not posted since May.
Thank you in advance for any reply. I will check for an answer periodically.
May you be well!
Oops! My mistake...Last time you posted was September 09. In any case, I hope you see my post.
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