Dec 5, 2010 Posted in Recipes, Soups & Salads

Miso Soup

 

Serves 6 as a first course or 4 as a luncheon entree

2 T cooking oil
6 mushrooms, dried or fresh
1 carrot
1 c chard or kale leaves
1 small yellow onion
6 c water
1/3 c miso paste

Vegetable choices are all optional. If using dried shittakes, soak them in 6 c of water for at least an hour. Remove from the water, slice the caps and return to the water until very soft. Thinly slice fresh mushrooms and carrot, dice the onion, chiffonade the greens to bite sized pieces.

Heat a soup pot to medium heat. Add the oil and then the fresh vegetables, starting with the carrot which needs the most cooking time. Stir as you add and only cook until al dente.

Pour in the soaking water and heat almost to a boil. Remove a cup full of water and mix the miso of your choice into the water. Return it to the soup. Stir and serve.

Miso paste is made of fermented soy beans and other grains. It has many varieties. Lighter colored miso is milder tasting. Never allow miso to boil.