Super Protein Miso Soup

Serves 4 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 10 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 1 litre of water
• 8 large dried shiitake mushrooms (can be purchased at some supermarkets as well as online or from your local Asian grocer)
• 10g dried kombu seaweed (see above)
• 300-500g of firm tofu (look for tofu with around 16 grams of protein per 100 grams)
• 4 Tbsp  (80g) of white miso paste
• Sliced green onion

METHOD

1. The first step is to make the dashi. Cut a few strips of kombu (10 grams or so) and 8 dried shiitake mushrooms, drop them in the water, then sit for 6-8 hours, that’s it.
2. Strain the dashi, keep the mushrooms for use in the soup, and discard the kombu (it can be repurposed but is usually more trouble than it’s worth).
3. Pour the dashi into a pot, drop the hydrated shiitake mushrooms back in, fire it up and simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat. This is important as boiling your miso will destroy the probiotics. Put the miso in a mini strainer and dissolve by stirring it into the pot (adding the miso directly will result in it being too clumpy). If you don’t have a mini strainer, dissolve it in a ladle of the dashi using a chopstick before adding it to the soup pot.
5. Add the diced tofu and gently stir. Add as much tofu as you can handle. This is a great way to boost your protein intake in a healthy hearty manner.
6. Garnish with the chopped green onion and serve.

Notes:

You can use other mushrooms in the miso soup such as enoki, and add as many extra ingredients as you want like wakame, julienned carrots, daikon or ginger. The more the better for your microbiome.

We’ve made miso soup with our dashi but it can also be used in numerous other recipes like ramen, okonomiyaki, Japanese curry, or even sipped cold.