Getting started with miso soup- help

[snax]

So I have miso paste, Ito-wakame (dried seaweed), and soup stock - bonito flavor.
Do I have what I need to make miso soup? And if so how do I make it?
I'm craving it so badly.

[joonjoon]

It's pretty simple. Get your stock hot (but not boiling), stir in miso and wakame or tofu or whatever you like, finish with some scallions.

[jenniferdines]

This is such a simple and delicious recipe:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.co...

For me with miso soup, easier is better, and you can add what you have around.

[chef chicklet]

I got a lesson the other day on making a proper Japanese miso soup. I had been doing it all wrong. You start with water not broth. It was the best ever, I was trying to watch carefully, but I can't remember all the Japanese ingredients. I'll get the recipe from my friend. One little trickwas one of the last things to go into the soup was the miso. She usd the darker miso added it to a ladle, put a bit of water in it and held the ladle barely touching the water, mixed it and mixed it. then when it was dissolved she added it to the pot. I need to get this recipe for another member so I'll post it here too. Bare in mind she didn't measure a thing, but it was excellent.

[piccola]

I've always started with water -- miso is so salty, I can't imagine how it must be with broth...

[Lisa H.]

I completely agree chef chicklet. A Japanese woman took care of my Dad and that's exactly how she taught me to make it, except she used the light miso, water and no measurements, just taste it. Also she said if you're sick beat an egg and add it to the hot broth in your bowl. Also reconstitute the dried seaweed in water and rinse it. MMM, guess what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow morning!

[joonjoon]

All soups start with water, don't they? It's just that the "stock" (dashi) used for miso is made quickly with bonito/kombu or other dried fish.

[piccola]

Just try not to boil the miso. It won't ruin your soup, but it'll kill the good bacteria in there.

[acecil]

here's a link that expains miso soup really clearly. Check it out - It's so easy to make!!

http://www.justhungry.com/japanese-ba...

[janniecooks]

and several threads on this very board should be helpful:

http://www.chow.com/topics/601371
http://www.chow.com/topics/685081
http://www.chow.com/topics/540484
http://www.chow.com/topics/540497

[jayt90]

If you have a liter of bonito soup stock, add a handful, or two of crushed or diced seaweed, plus 1 T miso paste, and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the miso.
Strain it and use the resulting dashi as a soup base: add udon or buckwheat based noodles, chives, thinly sliced seafood, tofu or meat, and your soup will be ready.
As you progress, you'll want to use bonito flakes instead of bonito flavor base stock, but work with what you have, to get started.

[C. Hamster]

Isn't the resulting broth essentially miso soup or miso broth and not "dashi?"

My understanding of dashi is that it's strained fish/seaweed broth, used as a base for soups including miso soup.

[chefj]

A simple seearch yeilds a plethera of recipes from many tested sources.
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/miso...