Miso Soup
The soup that anchors every Japanese meal: a clean dashi broth, silken tofu, wakame and miso whisked in off the heat. Restraint is the entire recipe.
Photograph credit: Littleneck clam miso soup 001 by Ocdp · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Miso is a living food full of enzymes and beneficial bacteria, and boiling it destroys both along with its delicate aroma compounds. Whisking it into broth held below 80°C / 176°F keeps the flavour bright and the texture smooth, which is why the pan always comes off the heat first.
Quick Answers
How long does Miso Soup take to make?
5 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking, plus 20 minutes of soaking, so allow 35 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
How to Make Miso Soup
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Soak the kombu in the cold water for 20 minutes, then set over medium-low heat and bring it slowly to just below a simmer, about 15 minutes. Remove the kombu the moment small bubbles appear at the edge — boiling it turns the dashi slimy and bitter.
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Bring the water to a brief boil, take off the heat, add the katsuobushi (if using) and let it steep for 2 minutes until the flakes sink.
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Strain through a fine sieve without pressing the flakes, which would cloud the broth.
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Soak the wakame in cold water for 5 minutes until it unfurls, then drain.
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Return the dashi to the pan and warm to a bare steam. Add the tofu and wakame and heat through for 2 minutes.
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Take the pan off the heat. Put the miso in a ladle, add a little hot broth and whisk with chopsticks until smooth, then stir it back into the pot.
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Serve immediately, scattered with spring onion. Never let it boil after the miso goes in.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.
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A Few Pointers
- Keep the spent kombu and katsuobushi to make a second, weaker dashi for cooking rice or vegetables.
- Red miso is saltier and more assertive; start with two-thirds the quantity and adjust.
- Instant dashi powder is a legitimate shortcut used in Japanese homes daily — use 1 teaspoon per 400 ml.
If You're Missing Something
- Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
What to Serve With It
Green tea · Serve with rice and grilled fish as a traditional breakfast · Precedes almost any Japanese main
Storage
Dashi keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes 2 months. Finished miso soup is best fresh; reheat gently without boiling.
Miso Soup Nutrition
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Vegan when made without the katsuobushi. Vegetarian when made without the katsuobushi.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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