Miso Soup

[Cusina]

It's been raining like crazy here and I needed something soothing. I've been making a broth with a mix of dried mushrooms, adding miso and a bit of sesame or chili oil. What are your favorite variations?

Also, as I understand it miso is an aged product, yes? Is there a limit as to how long it will keep in my fridge? There is a sell by date on the bottom of the container of 6/15.

[gus_tatory]

...I've been making a broth with a mix of dried mushrooms, adding miso and a bit of sesame or chili oil. What are your favorite variations?

...Also, as I understand it miso is an aged product, yes? Is there a limit as to how long it will keep in my fridge? There is a sell by date on the bottom of the container of 6/15.

hi Cusina:

my favourite miso soup might contain shiitakes, nori strips, sesame seed/oil, green onions, dulse (an Atlantic seaweed), shredded chicken, cubes of fried tofu, whatever's lying around.

and as long as the miso in not in contact with air, it pretty well keeps forever. try a ziploc bag with the air squeezed out, or putting it in a jar covered with a very fine layer of flavourless (canola?) oil.

have fun!

[Cusina]

Thanks gus... I particularily like the idea of nori strips. Would not have thought of that.

[torakris]

My favorite miso soup of the moment is made with satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato), onions or scallions and bit of yuzu-koshou (a paste of green chile and yuzu) added at the table.

My husband is getting sick of it though......

[torakris]

My husband doesn't really like miso soup (and yes he was born and raised in Japan... ) so I would only make it a couple times a year. Now with 3 kids to feed as well (and the kids love it) I make it more often, usually when I am needing one more dish to round out the meal. It is usually a last minute thing and toss in whatever is on hand.

Last night I made it with bacon and sliced onions.

What did you make last night?

any favorites?

unusual combinations?

[Palladion]

I've just begun making it on a regular basis. I make the dashi from prepared fish flakes and kombu (I'm not [yet?] willing to go so far as to use the dried fish blocks).

Last night: the traditional, silken tofu and wakame.

------

Alex Parker

[Hiroyuki]

Miso soup with tofu and nameko mushrooms, as I mentioned in the Takikomi gohan Day thread.

For some time during our marriage, my wife and I decided to take only one bowl of miso soup a day for breakfast for fear of high intake of salt, but we soon returned to our normal eating habit of two bowls a day, one for breakfast and one for supper. We need some soup or other and miso soup is the best! We will soon get tired of other soups, but we will never get tired of miso soup. I don't know why.

Another mystery is that my son eats anything he usually dislikes if it is in miso soup. For example, he doesn't care for hiyayakko (cold tofu) and yasai itame (stir-fried vegetables), but is willing to eat miso soup with tofu and vegetables.

[Hiroyuki]

My husband doesn't really like miso soup (and yes he was born and raised in Japan... )

←

I'm curious, does your husband dislike any soup that contains miso? Does he dislike sumashi jiru (clear soup) and soy sauce soup too??

Doen't he like houtou?

[torakris]

my husband prefers western style soups like minestrone or pureed vegetable soups. He will eat houtou if I make it but would never request it...

He likes miso, actually for the past 3 months that is the only onigiri he is requesting for his breakfast everyday (I make an onigiri for him to eat at work everyday). just a plain onigiri with a spoonful of miso inside...

[Hiroyuki]

Some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Daikon + satoimo

Asari (little clam)

Maitake

Nameko + tofu

Tofu + wakame

Other miso-based soups that I like:

Ton jiru (pork soup)

Kenchin jiru (??)

[torakris]

lat night was niboshi and satsumaimo

[jayt90]

I make miso soup every two weeks or so with flakes, miso, and seaweed that I can buy in a Korean store in Scarboro (Canada). I'll put in leftover pork, beef, and some tofu and vegs. etc.

I like to take the same soup to work the next day, to be re-heated in a microwave, but it is rarely as good as fresh. Is this a common experience, to be expected? Should I be combining broth and the rest at the last minute, from baggies?

[Hiroyuki]

I like to take the same soup to work  the next day, to be re-heated in a microwave, but it is rarely as good as fresh.  Is this a common experience, to be expected? Should I be combining broth and the rest at the last minute, from baggies?

←

Yes, the same thing happens to millions of households in Japan. Ideally, the miso should be added at the last minute, although I don't practice this.

[helenjp]

daikon sticks and hakusai with a mild "yamabuki" miso and a sprinkling of yuzu peel, which really pulled it together.

[torakris]

daikon and aburage in white miso with a bit of yuzu-koshou

I normally don't even make miso soup 3 times a month and here I am 3 days in a row....

My husband didn't even touch it though, so my kids had the leftovers this morning with their pancakes.....

[torakris]

I was scrambling around the kitchen last night looking for one more dish and ended up throwing together

miso soup with cabbage and aburage

[Susan G]

One can add *bacon* to miso! This is a revelation! Hoo boy, miso tonight with bacon!

I usally stick to the plain variety: small cubes of firm tofu with mushroom slices and carrot rounds, and topped with chopped scallions. Maybe some brown rice if there's some leftover.

Bacon. A whole new world is opening!

[torakris]

bacon is wonderful in miso soup!!

This is one reason I wanted to start this thread, to show everyone there is more variety to miso soup than just wakame and tofu.

[merrybaker]

Kris, your soup with niboshi and satsumaimo looked wonderful! Oh, I'm so hungry now!! I've never used dried sardines. Did you use them for the broth, or were they added later? How long did you cook them? What kind of miso did you use? And one more question--do you eat the sardines whole or do they have bones? This looks like a soup to get through winter with...

[torakris]

Kris, your soup with niboshi and satsumaimo looked wonderful!  Oh, I'm so hungry now!!  I've never used dried sardines.  Did you use them for the broth, or were they added later?  How long did you cook them?  What kind of miso did you use?  And one more question--do you eat the sardines whole or do they have bones?  This looks like a soup to get through winter with...

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The niboshi (baby sardines) were used as the stock, I simmered them in water for about 15 minutes then added the satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) and simmered until soft (less than 10 minutes) and then added the miso. I used an aka-miso (red miso) but it was more of a medium brown color, so it was a very light red...

These particular niboshi are quite small so I didn't remove the heads and guts, the bones are still there but they are so soft you don't even know you are eating them. My 4 year old son actually eats these niboshi straight from the package like a snack, they are boiled before being dried so the bones had softened but the fish are so small you probably wouldn't have a problem anyway...

[merrybaker]

Kris, thanks for answering so quickly! I already have red miso and sweet potatoes, so all I need are sardines. I've often seen bags of them in the store and wondered what to do with them. Now I know!

[Hiroyuki]

We will soon get tired of other soups, but we will never get tired of miso soup.  I don't know why.

←

Is this the answer?

According to this, the reason why you don't get tired of miso soup although you drink it every day is that the miso soup you make slightly differs each day.

If you keep on drinking miso soup at a Japanese-style restaurants for three days, you will get tired of it.

(Rough translation)

Hm... I'm skeptical. What do you think?

Original:

毎日飲む味噌汁がなぜ飽きないかご存知でしたか？

実は女性の作る料理は毎日微妙に味が違う。

だから、微妙に違う味噌汁だからこそ、味の飽きがこないんだそうです。

料亭の味噌汁を３日間飲み続けたら、飽きてしまうそうなんですよ。

[torakris]

We will soon get tired of other soups, but we will never get tired of miso soup.  I don't know why.

←

Is this the answer?

According to this, the reason why you don't get tired of miso soup although you drink it every day is that the miso soup you make slightly differs each day.

If you keep on drinking miso soup at a Japanese-style restaurants for three days, you will get tired of it.

(Rough translation)

Hm... I'm skeptical. What do you think?

←

I think it makes sense for some people, I crave different things and I rarely eat the same dish prepared in the same way twice a year! I can't stand eating the same things over and over and the variety with miso soup is really endless. On the other hand someone who craves familiarity can also love miso soup because you could make it exactly the same way everyday if you wanted to. I have a friend I have known for about 6 years and she only makes 7 dishes, every Monday is tomato sauce pasta, Tuesday is a spinach and chicken curry, Thursday is grilled salmon, etc, for her this is what makes her happy, it would drive me batty....

Miso soup the soup for everyone!

[Gastro888]

Miso soup is fantastic! I never knew you could put bacon in it. Wow. Oh, I wonder how Chinese style roast pork would taste in it. Can I just say one thing? I sooo dislike watery miso soup. You know, the kind you find in those suspect sushi places here in the US? Lord, watery miso soup - it's as bad as drinking dishwater.

[torakris]

for some ideas of what NOT to put in your miso soups look here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41017&hl=