# ISO easy miso soup



## CharlieD (Jan 28, 2010)

I bought some miso. Now I need to find an easy recipe with readily available ingredients. 
There is a recipe with turnip, but I do not like the turnip. Also it calls for some kind of dashi tingy?


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## powerplantop (Jan 28, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> I bought some miso. Now I need to find an easy recipe with readily available ingredients.
> There is a recipe with turnip, but I do not like the turnip. Also it calls for some kind of dashi tingy?


 
The dashi thingy is made with bonito flakes and kelp. But here is an easy miso that taste good. Take some dried shiitake mushrooms. Rinse them off, then soak them in water for about two hours. Chop up the mushrooms. Bring the soaking water to a boil add the mushrooms after about two or three min turn off the heat mix in the miso. 

Put miso in strainer put the strainer in the broth and use a spoon to push the miso thru. This will make sure you do not have clumps. Add green onion to bowl then add your soup and enjoy.


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## Selkie (Jan 28, 2010)

Dashi is Bonito flakes and MSG (Japanese soup stock base - salty and fishy in flavor). (no kelp).


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## powerplantop (Jan 29, 2010)

Selkie said:


> Dashi is Bonito flakes and MSG (Japanese soup stock base - salty and fishy in flavor). (no kelp).


 
Sounds like your taking about instant dashi.


For some good info on making dashi check this link out.
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/soup/a/aboutdashisoup.htm


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## CharlieD (Jan 29, 2010)

Power plant, gosh (do you have a name?) thank you. Interesting chalange. See if i can find any of those ingidients kosher, an add bonus for the chlange.


Speaking of that is there something that dashi could be substituted? Probably will not be very Japanise, but never the less?


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## jennyema (Jan 29, 2010)

Charlie,

Miso soup is very easy.  Real miso soup has 2 essential components:  Miso and dashi.  You need both.

You have the miso.  I prefer white miso for soup but some people like yellow or red.

Dashi is a broth made with both dried bonito (fish) and dried kombu (kelp seaweed).

You can find the bonito and kelp at some asian markets  -- to make your own broth.  Or you can buy dry dashi granules like boullion powder.  The dry stuff should be in most asian markets.  It comes in both jars and foil packages.

For every quart of dashi broth you use, dissolve about 1/4 cup miso paste.  Or to taste.

Good additions are tofu, shitake or wood ear mushrooms, scallions, lbster, shrimp, etc.

Vegetaraians make miso soup without the dashi, just using the kombu.

You can skiop the dashi but it won't taste anything like real miso soup.


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## powerplantop (Jan 29, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Power plant, gosh (do you have a name?) thank you. Interesting chalange. See if i can find any of those ingidients kosher, an add bonus for the chlange.
> 
> 
> Speaking of that is there something that dashi could be substituted? Probably will not be very Japanise, but never the less?


 
Name is James. 

You could make Mushroom dashi. This one calls for shiitake mushrooms but you could use just about any dried mushroom. 
Japanese shiitake mushroom stock - Japanese soup stock recipes


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## spork (Jan 29, 2010)

*CharlieD*, check your miso label.  Many of the buckets of miso sold in markets today have dashi already mixed into the paste.  I always have stock of the granulated instant dashi on hand.  One of my earliest daily kitchen chores as a kid was shaving blocks of dried bonito.  They look like footballs made of coal, and are tough as granite.  I've also made scratch dashi from dried shiitake and sardines.

By the way, dashi, sake, and a bit of soy sauce makes a heavenly soup.


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## Saphellae (Jan 30, 2010)

I just use miso paste, baby bok choy chopped up, seaweed, fresh mushrooms, and extra firm tofu.  Sometimes I add thinly diced celery.  I'm actually making this tomorrow because my fiance is sick.


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## CharlieD (Jan 30, 2010)

Sounds like I am out of dashi. Chances are it is not kosher. James, thank you for the link. Are the American shitake mushrooms the same as Japanise? I cannot buy dry mushrooms as they have to be kosher and dry mushrooms mostly are not.


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## powerplantop (Jan 31, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Sounds like I am out of dashi. Chances are it is not kosher. James, thank you for the link. Are the American shitake mushrooms the same as Japanise? I cannot buy dry mushrooms as they have to be kosher and dry mushrooms mostly are not.


 
Charlie, let me do some thinking and looking around. I may come up with something for you. But until then you could use a kosher stock like perhaps vege stock.


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## powerplantop (Jan 31, 2010)

Charlie, this link might help you out.

Miso Soup - Natural Menu


Also are you wantting to eat miso for health reasons or something else? If its for health reasons its best if you do not over heat the miso. Heat kills the cultures. Some folks just take a cup of warm water and mix in a spoon of miso and drink.


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## CharlieD (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks James. The only reason I want to make miso, is because I found a kosher miso in the store andbought it. Whenever I see somthing kosher and unusual, well something that is not redialy available in kosher I buy it, not even because I want to eat it, but rather to support the company that is going thru the process of making kosher products.


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## jennyema (Feb 1, 2010)

Charlie,

You can make great salad dressings with miso.  Glazes for grilled chicken and fish.  Add it to soups and sauces for savoryness.


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## powerplantop (Feb 1, 2010)

Being Kosher for a small business can be expensive. I have been involved with a par boiled rice operation that went from non Kosher to Kosher. We supplied the steam. It was interesting but, on to the topic at hand. 

Miso makes a nice glaze / marinade here is one for Miso chicken Bento.com recipes - Grilled Miso Chicken the recipe is for cooking in a pan but it is better on the grill you may also have to make other adjustments for your needs. But Miso grilled chicken of fish is great stuff.


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## GB (Feb 1, 2010)

This thread made me crave miso soup and luckily there is a new Asian market near my office. I stopped in today to check it out and among other things I bought some miso. Thanks to spork I read the label and saw that it did already have dashi in it. If I understand correctly, I just need to combine that with water and I have miso soup. Of course anything else like tofu or mushrooms or whatever is extra.

Am I correct in thinking that miso will last just about forever in the fridge? Does it ever go bad, and if so how do you know when it has gone bad?


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## jennyema (Feb 1, 2010)

Ive had some in the fridge for at least 6 months


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## GB (Feb 1, 2010)

I just made some soup. No way this will last that long


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