Miso Shiru (Miso Soup)

This soup is a staple in the Japanese diet! It can be eaten at ANY meal (yes, that includes breakfast!) It's very simple, and very customize-able with different vegetables or meats or whatever else you have laying around!

Miso Shiru - 1 serving
1 cup dashi*
1 tsp Miso**
Any other vegetables/meat you want to add. Suggestions: Tofu, Moyashi (bean sprouts?), Spinach, Squash, etc etc etc. Anything you have should be good.

*Dashi is fish stock and can be found in several different forms. You can make your own, but I think most common (in America as least) are granules. You can also buy liquid dashi (at least in Japan). I used granules, and put in about 1/2 Tbsp per cup of water. Adjust this according to your taste
**Don't be frugal on the Miso. It's a super important flavor so make sure you buy something that is good quality.

Bowl the dashi. Add in any other ingredients and cook through. Using a ladle, move some broth to a separate bowl. Next we are going to add the Miso. BUT THERE IS A TRICK TO IT. Don't just dish the miso in! You will want some sort of strainer/ladle thing, like THIS:

Put the miso in the strainer, and slowly dissolve it into the removed broth. When it is all mixed in, return broth to rest of soup and mix. Add more Miso to taste. Serve and top with green onions, if desired.

**BE CAREFUL!**
It is important that you NOT boil the soup AFTER you have added the miso. It will ruin the flavor!

Tonight, I made mine with Kabocha (squash), Moyashi, Tofu, and Komatsuna (I think?? some leafy green thing). It was supppper tasty.

--JeJira