Miso soup - general cooking principles
Miso soup is a popular dish of Japanese cuisine, which is prepared on the basis of soybean miso paste. Miso is a thick mass that is obtained by fermenting soybeans, barley, rice and wheat. Miso-pasta is very useful, as it contains more amounts of vitamins A and D, iron, zinc and calcium. Since there are several varieties of miso, differing in taste and color, respectively, you can prepare a large number of variants of miso soup. Soybean miso, wheat miso, rice miso, and a mixture of different types of pasta are used to prepare the dish. It is believed that red miso paste is best for miso soup.
Miso soup is also useful in that it is often prepared from seasonal vegetables - this explains the high content of vitamin C, fiber and carotene in the dish. In addition, it is known that miso paste is very rich in proteins, lecithin, glutamic acid and many beneficial microorganisms that contribute to better digestion and normalize the gastrointestinal tract. Miso paste itself varies in color and is in shades from light yellow to brown, red and almost black. The consistency also differs: the paste can be very smooth and elastic or, on the contrary, more viscous and granular. Miso most often has a weak and delicate flavor, although some varieties smell very sharp and piquant. The taste of Japanese miso soup can be more salty, tender, tart, or slightly sweetish, as the types of miso paste are just like that.
Miso soup can be prepared from seaweed, vegetables (daikon, spinach, cauliflower, potatoes, onions, turnips, etc.), mushrooms and meat. In Recipes, you can often find chicken meat, pork, fish (such as perch or salmon) and a variety of seafood (shrimp, octopus, squid, clams, crabs, etc.). Soy cheese tofu is often added to the miso soup - the main source of protein for millions of people.
In Japan itself, miso soup is eaten at any time of the day: for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Food is served most often before the main course.
Miso soup - preparing food and dishes
All vegetables and herbs must be washed and cut according to the recipe. If dried mushrooms or seaweed are used, they should be soaked in hot water in advance. Shrimp and other seafood are cleaned, washed and cut, then sent to dashi broth and slightly boiled. Chicken meat can be boiled in broth, and pre-fry the pork slightly. You also need to prepare the dashi broth itself: for this you can buy special granules and dissolve them in boiling water, or boil the broth from alga kombu. Tofu cheese is usually cut into small cubes.
For cooking, you will need a small saucepan, a sharp knife and a peeler, a cutting board and a bowl for soaking some ingredients. Miso soup is served with small deep bowls: first they drink broth from them, and then eat up the remaining contents with chopsticks. In many Japanese restaurants, miso soup is cooked right on the plate.
Miso soup recipes:
Recipe 1: Miso soup
The easiest recipe of the popular Japanese miso soup. Now, to try a traditional Japanese dish, you do not need to run to a restaurant - the dish can be easily prepared at home. Especially the soup will appeal to those who watch the figure and avoid high-calorie foods.
Ingredients Required:
- Half a cup of soy paste (miso);
- One and a half teaspoons dashi (traditional Japanese broth);
- Diced tofu cheese - half a cup;
- A few feathers of green onions;
- 4 glasses of water;
- Special dry seaweed (for soup) - 1 tbsp. l
Cooking method:
Take a small saucepan, pour water and put to boil. Add one and a half teaspoons of dashi to boiling water. In general, the broth can be bought in the form of ready-made seasoning or you can cook it yourself. To cook dashi broth at home, boil kombu seaweed in boiling water. As soon as the granules dissolve, you need to throw tofu cubes into boiling broth, after reducing the heat. Pour dry seaweed into a separate bowl and add some water to soak them. Then with the algae you need to decant the excess water and add them to the soup. Cook the soup for another 2 minutes. At this time, take soy paste and dilute it with a small amount of broth until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and add the miso paste. Thoroughly mix everything and pour into serving utensils. Serve miso soup with chopped green onions.
Recipe 2: Miso soup with spinach and pork
Try to cook the popular Japanese miso soup for such an interesting recipe. In contrast to the classical version of the preparation, this soup is richer and richer at the expense of pork and enoki mushrooms.
Ingredients Required:
- Pork - 55 g;
- 1-2 bunches of spinach;
- Third of enoki mushroom stick;
- Half a teaspoon of vegetable oil;
- 350 ml of dashi broth;
- One and a half tablespoons of soy paste.
Cooking method:
Pork cut into thin slices and fry in butter in a small saucepan. Separate the spinach from the stems, wash and boil a little in boiling water, then immediately immerse it in cold water. After that, spinach can be cut into small pieces of 3-4 cm. In a saucepan, heat the dashi broth and add soy paste. Mix everything thoroughly, then add lightly fried pork and enoki. Cook the soup until done and remove the pan from the heat.
Recipe 3: Miso soup with perch
All lovers of Japanese cuisine, and just people who appreciate tasty and healthy food, will appreciate such miso soup, which includes perch, mega (a fragrant Japanese vegetable) and hachomiso.
Ingredients Required:
- 4 perch;
- 2 pieces of mega;
- Salt - to taste;
- Condiment - to taste;
- 40 g of hachomis;
- 700 ml dashi.
Cooking method:
Rinse the perch fillet, salt and fry on the grill. Peel the meatas and cut into thin slices. Place the pieces of mega in the water. Pour dashi into the pan. Gradually add soy paste and mix thoroughly. Put slices of perch, mega in portions and pour dashi broth with diluted soybean paste. Serve miso soup with conazance.
Recipe 4: Miso soup with seafood
This amazing dish of Japanese cuisine includes the finest meat of crabs, shrimps, daikon and woody mushrooms. If you want to truly surprise guests and loved ones, cook such an amazingly tasty and healthy soup.
Ingredients Required:
- 250 g of small peeled shrimp;
- Crab meat - 150 g;
- 50 grams of daikon;
- 40 g of wood mushrooms;
- 400 g of bean curd tofu;
- Leek - 1 pc .;
- 2 tbsp. l miso paste;
- Dried cilantro herbs - to taste.
Cooking method:
Arrange wood mushrooms in a bowl and pour boiling water. While mushrooms are swelling, finely chop the leek. Daikon wash and cut into thin strips. Drain the mushrooms and cut them into small pieces. Pour water into a saucepan and boil. Then in boiling water you need to put mushrooms. After 10 lay out daikon and leek. Cook all together for about 7 minutes. Thawed peeled shrimps and crabs are cut into small pieces. Tofu cut into small cubes and lay out with soy paste in the soup. All thoroughly mix and lay out seafood (crab meat and shrimp). All thoroughly mix, bring the soup to a boil and remove from heat. The finished dish is poured into plates and served with dried cilantro.
Recipe 5: Miso soup with chicken
If a Japanese-style theme party is scheduled, there’s nothing to do without tasty treats of oriental cuisine. You can hardly surprise guests with rolls, but this Japanese miso soup will succeed by 100%. The dish includes chicken, daikon, mitzuba (greens, similar to our parsley) and gobo (Japanese vegetable burdock).
Ingredients Required:
- Chicken thigh with bone - 1 pc .;
- 100 g gobo;
- 200 grams of daikon;
- 2.5 Art. l soy paste;
- 2.5 Art. l soy wheat;
- Half a cup - dashi;
- 1 bunch Mitsuba.
Cooking method:
Cut chicken leg into several pieces, rinse and immerse in boiling water. Put the boiled chicken into the pan, add dashi and a little sake. Continue to cook all together as soon as the broth boils - reduce the heat and cook the soup for about half an hour. Cut the daikon into thin straws, clean the gobo and put everything in the soup. After 10 minutes add soy paste and soy wheat. Mix everything thoroughly, cook for another 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Serving dish with Mitsuba. Miso soup with chicken is ready!
Miso soup - secrets and useful tips from the best chefs
The main secret of miso soup, which is also the main principle of cooking, is that miso paste does not tolerate boiling, so it is not cooked in broth, but only added to the hot broth at the end of cooking and mixed thoroughly with it. No matter what additional ingredients will be used to make miso soup, the main thing is to choose the right proportions: 150 grams of miso paste is taken per 1 liter. It is also important to observe such a rule: in the miso soup there should be at least two ingredients that should differ in color, shape and consistency. By the way, miso paste can be used not only for cooking soup. This product is often used as a preservative, which can permanently preserve the freshness of a dish or any other product. So, fresh fish, marinated in miso, can be stored for weeks without spoiling.
