Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Miso Soup

At dinner with my grandfather recently, we both ordered miso soup. “You should put miso soup on the menu for your clients,” he said, adding that, “it’s delicious!”

It is also healthy and easy to make. Miso is known to prevent breast cancer and tumors, and also contains many antioxidants and fatty acids. It has a high content of vitamin E, protein, and B12 as well as immune boosting minerals. Wakame, the seaweed used in miso soup, lowers blood pressure and reduces cholesterol. Tofu is a great source of iron and protein.

All of the Japanese ingredients found in miso soup can be found at Sunrise Market. And, one can also find miso soup kits that come equipped with all the necessary ingredients to add to your soup pot.

If you are entirely uninterested in making your own miso soup, you can find it at any Japanese restaurant. However, there is an especially good bowl of it at Blue Ribbon Sushi (and, incidentally, their bakery branch, as well) and at Honmura An. An interesting version using red miso paste is at Haseki in the East Village, which offers a thicker, richer version of the soup. And, while I mention the East Village, Dumpling Man is my favorite place to grab a cheap miso soup to go. The portion is almost a pint, and it always has copious amounts of seaweed and tofu in the hearty miso broth.

Recipe for Miso Soup
1/2 cup wakame
1/2 cup katsuo bushi (dried bonito flakes)
2 tablespoons shiro miso paste
1/4 pound soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens

1. Boil wakame and 3 cups water. Then, remove the wakame and set aside.
2. Sprinkle bushi over water and remove from heat. Then strain the liquid so as to separate the bushi from the liquid.
3. Mix the miso paste with 1/4 cup of the broth. Set aside.
4. Cut tofu into little cubes, reheat the rest of the broth, and add the tofu. Simmer, and then add the miso mixture and the scallions. Serves 4.

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