Have you ever had something to eat in a restaurant and think, "that recipe is so good and seems so simple, I must make it at home"? That was miso soup for me. There was a sushi place in Atlanta that had the best I'd ever found. They had several locations and each one made it differently for some reason. I would go to my local Asian market and could see packaged soup mixes for days. I was intimidated to try any, lest it suck and then I was stuck with several packets of expensive soup mix. That and it just seemed wrong to get my favorite soup from a paper pouch. Then one day, by some miracle from above, I was watching Good Eats with Alton Brown, my favorite Atlanta-area native, and the theme of the show was...wait for it...MISO SOUP! I'd trust Alton Brown to be my surgeon, I love him so much. One thing I love most about him is that he takes simple recipes and makes them completely from scratch. Sometimes making your own beer or smoking your own salmon is a little beyond what I want to do but some really traditional dishes just beg to be made in the most deconstructed, traditional way. This soup really does taste like the best restaurant miso soup you've ever had. It's so hearty and is actually just as simple as you think it should be as long as you get the right ingredients. It's also another one of those soups that keeps really well so I always make a big pot and eat it for lunch every day for a week.
The base stock of miso soup is called dashi. Traditional dashi is made by boiling kombu (edible kelp) and bonito (shavings of katsuobushi: dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna). Yes, it's fish stock. You probably didn't even know it before I just told you so deal with it. Today, it's usually made with prepared pellets similar to bullion but I like to make it from scratch if I can get my hands on the ingredients.
Here's how to make dashi and the miso soup is second.
This is what the instant dashi looks like
Two 4” square pieces of kombu
2 1/2 qt. water
1/2 oz. bonito flakes/katsouboshi
Soak the kombu in the water for 30 min.
It expands quite a bit in that time.
Heat the water over medium heat just until bubbles start to form on the edges.
Remove the kombu and bring the broth to a boil for 5-6 min.
Reduce the heat to low and add the bonito flakes.
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Strain the bonito flakes out. They can be reused so you don't have to throw them away. Dashi can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a month.
Miso Soup
12 oz. block firm tofu
2 qt. dashi
6 tbs dark or red miso
2 tbs light or white miso
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Before you start cooking, take your block of tofu and wrap in in a few paper towels to squeeze out the excess moisture.
Weight it down under a plate and a can of something moderately heavy. There are two basic types of tofu, silky and firm. The silky has more moisture and has a texture just like its name, smooth and silky. Alton Brown's recipe actually calls for the silky type but I tried the firm and preferred its meatier texture. It's up to you, they taste the same. This needs to sit for at least 10 minutes so while you're waiting, heat up the 2 quarts of dashi you just made.
Measure the red and white miso into a bowl. (Miso is amazing. It's made from soy and has such an amazing, robust saltiness. You can use it to make sauces or marinades in addition to soup so check back for other recipes. You can find it in Asian grocery stores and it keeps for a long time in the fridge.)
Ladle a cup or two of the warm dashi into the bowl...
...and whisk it until there are no more miso lumps. We want nice, smooth soup.
Pour the miso back into the pot. The tofu should be ready by now so unwrap it and dice it up into little cubes of whatever size you desire. Chop the scallions into thin slices while you're at it. Pour it all into the pot and let it simmer for just a couple minutes to let the tofu absorb some flavors.
Serve it up and if you happen upon some of those fun spoons they use in Asian restaurants while you're in that Asian grocery store, get them. Miso soup is way more fun to eat out of the big restaurant spoons.
