VCE: Basic Miso Soup

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* Exported from MasterCook *

 

Basic Miso Soup

 

Recipe By : Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison, page 232

Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : Soups And Stews Soyfoods

Vegetables

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

2 teaspoons white or red miso -- to taste, up to 3

1 cup boiling water

OR one of the kombu stocks

(see separate recipes)

Few drops dark sesame oil or chili oil

***For garnish*** -- if desired

sliced mushroom

slivered scallion

chopped cilantro

 

SERVES 1

 

You'll find through experience how much miso is right for you. Usually 2

to 3 teaspoons is plenty for a cup, but it depends on the type of

miso. This simplest of miso soups makes an instant pick-me-up.

 

If you frequent Japanese restaurants, you've certainly begun many a meal

with a bowl of cloudy broth garnished exquisitely with tiny cubes of tofu,

seaweed, and vegetables. Miso, the basis of this broth, is a paste derived

from soybeans and sometimes grains, yet its nothing like most of the beans

and grains we eat. Light, yet sustaining, miso soup is inexpensive,

essentially instant, noncaloric, and well worth looking into.

 

The making of miso soup is a valued part of daily life in Japan, where

tradition surrounds the various ways of combining the garnishes and

different miso varieties according to the seasons. There are many kinds of

miso, and they can be used singly or in blends. The most widely available

ones are used here, but try some of the more unusual varieties, such as

barley-ginger miso available at Japanese markets and some natural food stores.

 

Boiling changes misos flavor and destroys some of its nutritional

value. After adding the diluted miso to the water or broth, heat it only

to the simmering point, then serve. Miso soup is made to be eaten at once.

 

Put the miso in a cup, add a few tablespoons of the water, and work it into

the miso, diluting it to a thick cream. Add the rest of the water, then

pour the soup into a bowl or mug. Add a few drops sesame oil, any of the

garnishes - or none - and sip.

 

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