I have always loved miso soup. The richness of the broth lead me to believe, in my early uninformed years, that there was a meat base to the broth.

I was so happy to learn that this is not the case.

Dashi is the base of many Japanese soups and sauces and can be made from dried sardines, mushrooms, and in my case sea weed.

I used 2 “leaves” of Kombu Sea Vegetable to 12 cups of water. ( I made a big batch; we’ll discuss this later).

The sea vegetable expands greatly in the water so I would suggest breaking it into small peices before boiling.

This saves time cutting it up later.

You can also purchase the kind which is cut or shredded.

Boil until soft.

You can buy Dashi but it is not always easy to find and making it yourself is so easy…why not?!

Now, making this soup in large quantities is not the best idea and I now know why.

You should not boil the miso.

And if you have to warm leftover soup you won’t be able to avoid over cooking.

Also, the scallions which add such a nice delicate flavor would not taste great or retain their texture if submitted to too much heat.

I wish that I would have known this befor I started.

I now know why cooking suggestions were given for one and two cup servings.

I would highly suggest making this soup in small portions for optimum flavor and quality.

Ingredients

•3 cups dashi soup stock
•1 block tofu
•3-4 tbsps miso paste
•1/4 cup chopped green onion

Method

Put dashi soup stock in a pan and bring to a boil.

Cut tofu into small cubes and add them to the soup.

Simmer the tofu for a few minutes on low heat.

Scoop out some soup stock from the pan and dissolve miso in it.

Gradually return the miso mixture in the soup.

Stir the soup gently.

Stop the heat and add chopped green onion.

Remember not to boil the soup after you put miso in.

*Makes 4 servings

Making the Dashi.

Measuring the Miso.

Mixing the Dashi with the Miso.

Disolving the Miso in the Dashi before adding to the Dashi Broth.

Mixing everything together in the soup pot.

I always need to add alittle heat!.

After a long Saturday spent writing; cooped up in the house on a snowy afternoon I just needed something fresh, spicy and satisfying.

Brown rice with tofu and black bean sauce was the ticket.

Ginger and scallions added the fresh crunchy spicy thing.

Make sure to sautee the ginger or add it while the rice is boiling.

Too raw and it can be intense!

I added alot of crushed red pepper.

I love the heat!