Le Chef's Kitchen

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of eating sushi is the miso soup.  For years I ate the thin, watery soup that you get from every sushi delivery joint, and loved it, not knowing that there was something else beyond takeout miso soup.  Then I bought miso for the first time to make a miso butter (more on that here) and I made my own miso soup.  Guess what?  It blows that takeout stuff right out of the water.

Miso, if you are unfamiliar, is fermented soybean paste.  It has the “umami” flavor profile that is characteristic of  many Asian foods.  There are many varieties of miso to choose from, and most grocery stores these days will carry a few, along with the tofu you will need for the soup.  I use sweet white miso, but you can experiment with yellow, red, or any other type that you can find.

As with any soup, I’ll be providing my base recipe, but feel free to add other vegetables as you see fit.  I omit seaweed in my dish, only because I didn’t try to find any, and I wasn’t trying to recreate the standard sushi restaurant’s miso soup.  This is an entirely different dish altogether.

Miso Soup (Serves 8-10)

Ingredients

• 8 cups vegetable stock (I use “Better than Bullion” if I’m not making my own stock)
• 6-8 T miso (to taste)
• 2 T oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
• 1 lb firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 bunch of enoki mushrooms, cut to bite-size (substitute white or shittake mushrooms if you want)
• 1 cup fresh chopped scallions

Procedure:

In a heavy stock pan or dutch oven, heat the oil and cook the onions for 5-6 minutes until beginning to soften.  Add the cauliflower and cook for 2-3 minutes more.  Add the mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the stock to the pot, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer.  Add the miso and stir to incorporate.

Add the tofu, and simmer for 25-30 minutes.  The cauliflower and tofu will start to thicken the soup a bit.  Taste the soup and add more miso if you want a stronger flavor.

Serve piping hot in bowls with fresh scallions on top.

Enjoy!