Miso soup
Dashi with Tofu, Wakame and Miso
Miso soup is a stock, a paste and a handful of toppings, and the one rule is that it must not boil once the miso is in. Making the dashi yourself, from kombu and bonito flakes, takes ten minutes and makes the soup taste of something.
Miso soup is dashi flavoured with miso, with tofu, seaweed and spring onion.
The two recipes make about a litre of dashi from a piece of kombu and a handful of dried bonito flakes, cook 200 g of tofu in it, dissolve the miso in a ladle of the stock off the heat, and warn against boiling the soup after the miso goes in. One soaks the kombu for 30 minutes; the other heats it slowly for 10.
Ingredients
For the dashi
- 1 litre cold water
- 10 cm square of kombu
- 10 g katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
For the soup
- 200 g silken tofu, in 1.5 cm cubes
- 1 tbsp dried wakame
- 60 g miso paste (4 tbsp), white or red
- 1 to 2 spring onions, finely sliced
Method
- Make the dashi Put the kombu in the water and either soak it for 30 minutes or heat it slowly over a low heat for about 10 minutes, taking it out before the water boils. Bring the water to a bare simmer, add the katsuobushi, simmer for 30 seconds and take the pan off the heat.
- Strain Leave the flakes to settle for 10 minutes, then strain the dashi through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. Soak the wakame in cold water for 10 minutes and drain.
- Add the tofu Heat the dashi until it is steaming, then add the tofu and warm for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
- Add the miso Put the miso in a ladle, dip it in the soup and stir the paste into the ladle of stock until dissolved. Pour it back into the pan. Add the wakame and spring onions and serve at once without boiling.
Do not boil the soup after the miso goes in. It loses its aroma.
Red miso is stronger and saltier than white. Start with less.