The Saturday Simmer: Miso soup recipes
Do you fall in love with miso soup every time you eat at a Japanese restaurant, but think the soup is too hard to make at home? It's not complicated, and even if you don't have a pantry full of exotic ingredients, you can make a satisfying bowl of soup with only miso and water. Miso, which you find in the refrigerated aisle of many grocery stores (or in an Asian market), comes in different colors. The lighter the color, the milder the miso; when in doubt, simply buy the lightest color you find. My store only carries miso that is the color of butterscotch, so that's what I consider "all-purpose" miso. It adds a pleasingly salty flavor to soups like this bowl of udon noodles with tofu and asparagus in miso broth, from Kahakai Kitchen, and makes a fine base for a glaze for seafood. It's not expensive, and a little goes a long way.
Many variations on the theme of miso soup caught my eye this week, and one container of miso will make them all:
Simple 10-minute miso soup, from Steamy Kitchen
Miso tahini soup, from 101 Cookbooks
Chickpea lemon-miso noodle soup, from Love and Lemons
Udon noodles with tofu and asparagus in miso broth, from Kahakai Kitchen
Miso soup with rice and poached egg, from The Kitchn
Asari miso soup, from No Recipes
Miso and soba noodle soup with roasted Sriracha tofu and shiitake mushrooms, from The Bojon Gourmet
Miso soup with tofu and kale, from Appetite for China
Spicy loaded miso bowl with kelp noodles, from Everyday Maven
Miso soup with butternut squash, poached eggs, and spinach, from La Fuji Mama
Sweet potato, coconut and shrimp miso soup, from Just Hungry
Which will you try first? What intrigues you? Please leave feedback on the original recipe post, and let us know if you've made or adapted any of these recipes. See you next Saturday, and every Saturday, with more soups, stews and chili.
[All photos used with permission.]
I'm realizing I have never even cooked once with miso, must try it!
Kalyn, miso must be becoming more popular because the smaller markets in my town are starting to carry it (in the dairy aisle).
Sometimes when I had young kids, on tired nights we would have miso soup as our dinner. No complaints...
Susan, miso soup has that wonderful salty flavor that reminds kids of chicken soup. No complaints here, either.
Since I finally found miso I can try making miso soup - naturally, I don't have some of the other stuff but in my years here I've become an old hand at improvising.... I'll let you know LOL
Katie, yay! I can't wait to hear about your miso adventures.