Bento.com recipes - Miso soup variations

Ingredients:

Types of gu and preparation suggestions

Chinese cabbage, cut into bite-size squares or triangles
Cabbage, cut into bite-size squares or triangles
Lettuce, cut into bite-size squares or triangles
Green onions, sliced
Onions, sliced
Leeks, sliced or chopped
Okra, chopped
Butternut squash*, thinly sliced
Snow pea pods
Green beans*
Daikon*, thinly sliced
Potatoes*, thinly sliced
Sweet potatoes*, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, sliced
Bean sprouts
Tofu, cut into small cubes
Wakame seaweed
Natto beans, minced

* These hard vegetables must be cooked for ten minutes or so. Not recommended: green pepper, celery (vegetables with strong flavor)

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Servings: 4

This soup is served every morning in Japan, with the flavors of seasonal vegetables. There are several different kinds of miso paste available in the United States. Shiro-miso paste is a mild one and is low in salt. On the other hand, aka-miso is very salty and has a different, stronger fragrance than shiro-miso. Miso soup base is made out of a fish stock called dashi. You can purchase dashi at any Oriental food shop. You can enjoy almost any vegetable with this soup, from lettuce to snow pea pods. Here's a list of vegetables you might want to try in the miso soup.

Tofu, green onion and mushroom miso

Ingredients:

about 30 half-inch cubes tofu
4 mushrooms, sliced
2 stalks green onions, chopped
4 cups water
2 teaspoons dashi (nomoto)
3-4 tablespoons miso (adjust to taste)

Directions

Boil 4 cups of water and dashi. Add tofu and mushrooms, simmer gently about 3 minutes. Add miso and dissolve completely. Immediately turn off the heat and add chopped green onions, then serve.

Note: You have to cook the hard vegetables longer. If you have a combination of soft and hard vegetables, add the soft vegetables later. The miso flavor will weaken if you overcook the miso.


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