Miso Soup (miso shiru)

For a professional result, use one of the dashis according to the recipes given in this article, or use instant dashi for a quick home-cooked meal. Put the stock in a large pot and bring to the boil. Rub salt into the fish then rinse using hot water, making sure you remove all the salt. Add the bones to the stock and boil for 20 minutes. Check the surface while it’s boiling and remove any impurities that rise to the top. Strain into a bowl to remove the bones. Measure out 6 cups of fish stock and pour into a fresh pot.

Add the tofu and mushrooms to the stock and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer. Hold a fine mesh sieve over the pot, partly in the soup, and push the miso paste through using a spoon, removing any lumps that won’t go through. Turn off the heat immediately – do not boil. Add shallots to garnish immediately before serving. (Note: you can use most vegetables in miso soup; just remember that some take longer to cook, so time their addition to the pot accordingly.)

Basic Knowledge

The basic stock for miso soup is dashi, which you can either make the traditional way or the quick way, using granulated dashi (hondashi). To make it the quick way, simply dissolve one heaped teaspoon of hondashi in 600ml of water and then use in miso soup.

To make traditional, restaurant-quality dashi, chef Shinichi Maeda has kindly provided us with three recipes as follows. The first one is commonly used as a base for delicate clear soups, while the second is mostly used for miso soup. Niboshi-dashi is used in braises and as a stock for strong-flavoured foods such as pork and beef, where ingredients such as chili, dark soy or miso are often added.

Ichiban-dashi:
5l water
10 x 20cm kelp, wiped with a damp cloth to remove excess salt
3.5 cups large bonito flakes (hana katsuo)

Bring the water and kelp to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat, remove the kelp and allow the stock to simmer. Add the bonito and once the water has returned to a simmer, turn off the heat and allow it to stand, uncovered, for 30–40 minutes, until the bonito has sunk to the bottom. Strain through a fine sieve or cloth. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to use. This dashi will keep for three days in an airtight container in the fridge or can be frozen for up to two weeks.

Niban-dashi:
5l water
200g dried baby sardines (niboshi)

Remove the head and guts of the niboshi and place in a large pot with the water. Bring almost to the boil then turn the heat down to low (do not boil). Remove from stove after ten minutes. When the niboshi have settled at the bottom, strain through a fine sieve or cloth. You can squeeze the cloth with the niboshi in it to extract as much liquid as possible for a stronger flavour. Cool and store as before.

Recipe

Serves 6 people

	½ block silken tofu, diced
	1 block age tofu, thinly sliced and washed in hot water to remove excess oil
	3 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
	2 shallots, thinly sliced
	90g white miso paste

Stock

	7 cups of niban-dashi or 7 cups of water mixed with 7g instant dashi
	Wings and skeleton of 1 fish (no head or fins)
	¼ cup salt

About Miso
Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans, often combined with other grains such as rice and barley. It can be used to make soup and sauces and is also delicious spread on toast or crackers. There are two main types of miso, white and red. White miso is sweeter and red miso is stronger and saltier.