Miso Soup

To cook miso soup, the bare basics are just take a cup of water and heat it almost to boiling. Dissolve two tablespoons of miso paste in the water, mixing well. When the soup has cooled to a comfortable temperature for drinking, you may do so.

There you go. That's the simplest way possible to prepare miso soup. Just about everything else involves seasoning a fish stock base, and then adding some other bits of vegetables, tofu or noodles for further flavor or color.

I've made super-simple miso soup, running late for work in the morning. The most over-the-top miso soup I ever ate was served to me one morning at the Harbin Hot Springs, in Northern California. It was like my miso was having a freak out, with tons of mushrooms, greens, peppers and other stuff swirling around in it.

My "usual" miso routine is a breakfast one. A waitress at a sushi restaurant once praised my morning consumption of miso soup as being "very Japanese." I'm still trying various types of miso to see which one I like best. I make a simple fish stock with some bonito and seaweed. There's no formula for that. I started out with measurements off a recipe once-upon-a-time, but I season it by eye and taste now. A sprinkling of green onion goes in. There might be a few slivers of noodle or a paper-thin shaving of carrot. A few cubes of fried tofu are lovely but I often don't do that part. I like to drink my miso right out of the bowl, so I tend to make it so it doesn't require a utensil.

I often do this as a winter morning beverage, although on overheated summer mornings, it's a nice light start when the thought of having to cook makes you not want to eat at all.

I get all my ingredients in bulk from Asian grocery stores or organic/health food groceries.

Ingredients:
~ 1 piece kombu seaweed, approx 2"
~ 1 C. water
~ 1 T dried bonito flakes
~ 1 T miso paste (white miso)

How to Prepare:
Put water and kombu into a small pan and simmer, removing kombu when water starts to boil. Then add the bonito, and turn off the heat, letting the flakes steep for a few minutes. The stronger you let them steep, the stronger the fish flavor of the broth. Spoon the miso paste into a large mug or small bowl. Pour fish broth over the miso through a strainer to filter out the bonito flakes, and stir, blending well. Let cool to a comfortable warm temperature, then drink.

Pretty easy, huh? You want to make sure never to incorporate miso into water that is at boiling temperature, as it ruins the flavor. Any type of miso paste can work, but I tend to use white for this one as the kombu and bonito add enough of a salty flavor already.

Additions For Variation:
(all of these I add along with the miso paste, and they cook to a nice tenderness while the miso broth cools down to drinking temperature, but experiment to see what you like.)
~ a sprinkling of green onion, sliced into teeny bits
~ a few extremely thin slices of carrot. You should be almost able to see thru the carrot slices.
~ a pinch of noodles (ramen or somen) broken small enough to soak entirely in the mug of broth
~ a few cubes of firm tofu

Here's a version of Miso Soup that works for camping and backpacking. It's for situations where you are going unrefrigerated/sans ice, but where you will still have the ability to boil water.

This recipe is a 2-3 person meal, depending on activity level and appetites. Three car campers or two backpackers is the estimate, your consumption may vary. This recipe can be made heartier by adding another packet of ramen noodles, a good option for hikers and climbers.

I made this for dinner one night when Calyxa and I were on the road in Nevada in early May 2006. The picture shown here is the funky tofu cubes I got. It was either these ones with little faces on them or some plain ones. The appropriate choice for a road trip was obvious.

Ingredients:
3 packets instant Miso Soup
1 packet Instant Ramen (any flavor)
1/2 cup dehydrated mixed vegetables
1 package freeze-dried tofu cubes
1 oz dried shitake mushrooms
1/2 oz dried green onion (optional)

Minimum Utensils:
1 cooking pot that will hold a minimun of 1 quart of water
1 mug or cup that can hold boiling water
1 stirring utensil (a spoon is good but a fork or chopsticks work too)

Cooking Instructions:
1. Pour approx 32 oz of water into the cooking pot and bring to a boil.
2. Pour off about a half cup of water into the mug/cup. Dissolve the miso soup packets in this water and hold for now.
3. Rehydrate the tofu cubes for about two minutes by themselves in the pot of boiling water.
4. Add the vegetable mix, green onions and mushrooms, stir, and let the mix simmer covered for two minutes.
5. Add the Ramen noodles to the tofu/veggie soup mixture and continue to simmer for two more minutes. (discard the ramen flavoring)
6. Add the miso soup mixture that is in the separate cup, stir well and serve.