Margarita's International Recipes

Japan

Misoshiru

Miso Soup


Vegan Miso Soup


This is a vegan recipe.

Miso soup is a very traditional Japanese soup and a staple of Japanese restaurants in America. It consists of a dashi, or broth, made from seafood, shiitake mushrooms or kombu, a type of seaweed, which is mixed in with miso, a fermented soybean paste. To this small cubes of tofu are added, as well as other ingredients.

I have liked the non-vegan versions I've tried at restaurants, as has my now vegan daughter. As she is also a seaweed fan, I made this vegan version for her hoping she would enjoy it. She did not. She felt that it tasted too much like sea water. I might have left the kombu seep for too long, but most likely this was just not a good combination for her western palate. I will try making this again, but using hoshi-shiitake dashi instead.

I'll note that I had a pretty hard time finding the kombu on mainstream supermarkets (those that offer delivery or pick-up during the pandemic). I found it only at the Berkeley Bowl and at Whole Foods. The same goes for wakame and miso, though there were a couple of other choices for these.

PRINT PDF



Vegan Miso Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 piece kombu
  • 5 cups water, divided
  • 1 Tbsp dried wakame seaweed
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 5 Tbsp vegan miso
  • 6 oz silken tofu, cut into small cubes

Directions

Soak the kombu in 4 cups of water for 1-4 hours.

Soak the wakame in 1 cup of cold water for 5 minutes. Using your hands, squeeze out the water. Put the wakame at the bottom of 4 serving bowls. Top with sliced green onions. Set aside.

Transfer the water and kombu to a saucepan and slowly bring to a boil over low heat. When bubbles start to appear, remove the kombu and turn off heat.

In a bowl, mix the miso with two ladles of kombu broth. Add the mixture to the pot and mix well. Add the cubed tofu.

Warm to desire temperature over medium-low heat, being careful to not let the soup boil. Pour onto serving bowls and serve.


Adapted from Nami's recipe at Just One Cookbook


Japanese Recipes | Marga's International Recipes | Marga's Best Recipes | Marga's Food Blog | E-mail