Miso Soup!

[elfs]

Last night, I tried to make a miso soup with daikon and tofu, but it didn't work. The fish broth that I used was salty, and so was the miso. I can't make the miso less salty so I guess the only solution is to try and find a low-salt fish broth. Admittedly I didn't look around, just two grocery stores, but I'm really fond of the Better Than Broth brand, and they don't make low-salt variants. They've been known to like restaurant-bought miso soups. Anyone have any good tips for making a miso even the kids will eat?

Comments

[solarbird]

I just buy the miso base powders.

[mo-hair.livejournal.com]

it's far from authentic, but i make our miso with veggie stock. i think the best kind is called better than boullion (and i get it at whole foods in a small jar right beneath the spices racks.) as for getting the kids to eat it, mine just eat anything with tofu. seriously, eve has been known to eat the block of nasoya stuff right out of the fridge. ewwww.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

That's the brand we used last night, except we used the clam base rather than the vegetable base. Sounds like Eve has a much higher salt-tolerance than my family does, though.

[mo-hair.livejournal.com]

you gotta go REAL light with that stuff. it is good, but way strong. but sadly, yes, i think the kids inherited my love of salt.

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

Well, first you start with home-made fish broth. What kind of seafood do you have in your fridge/freezer? Plop it all together in 1/2 water, 1/2 no sodium chicken broth, some no-salt butter, some favorite fish seasoning, and boil. You want alot of liquid per fishy stuff. You eat the seafood soup and reserve about half the liquid to freeze for later dishes.

When Gram Tyler and I made it we had 2 small lobster tails (about 1/2 lb total), some puget sound shrimp (that we got off the docks in Everett, about 1/2 lb), a single serving of cod (for a senior citizen), a single serving of salmon, some left-over crab from the summer (she snuck it right out from under our noses!), and about 1/2 lb of frozen clams, also from the prior summer. Oh yah, we added a little garlic too.

So truly, whatever is in the freezer. :9

I'm hungry now.

Authentic Miso Soup

[(Anonymous)]

Making real miso soup is easy if you can find the ingredients. I go to either the local chef's supply store or an asian market. I can ofthen find them in the local Whole Foods too. You can have homemade miso in about 20 minutes.

You need:

1 piece of dried Konbu (kelp)
1 package of Bonito (shavings of dried tuna)
Some white or yellow miso

Put the Konbu in a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil. When it starts to boil, remove the Konbu and throw it away. Throw in a few handfulls of the Bonito and turn off the heat. Let it steep for 3-5 minutes and strain. You now have Dashi, the basis of so much Japanese goodness.

Take some dashi, heat it up, and stir in miso until it looks like your standard restaurant miso soup. I find it easiest to do this by pushing the miso through a fine mesh strainer with a spoon. Heat for a few minutes, and you have miso soup.

Its a lot easier than it sounds. I was suprised the first time I did how well it came out.

Re: Authentic Miso Soup

[mothball-07.livejournal.com]

Cool! I was just eyeing the Bonito and wondering what I could make with it...

[mokie-sassafras.livejournal.com]

At Uwajimaya they have bonito flakes in tea bags to make dashi - worked well for me.