The BEST Miso Soup You'll Ever Make | Food Wishes

This one of the world’s greatest soups, and if you’re only eating it when you go to a Japanese restaurant, you’re not eating it often enough. Making your own is fast, easy, and fun. Enjoy!

[rousseau]

Pro tip: keep the kombu, let it dry and cool down. Slice it into thin strips julienne style, and toss it with some soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds/oil, and chilis. Nice little side dish

[jaydoggy]

Miso soup is actually very common for BREAKFAST. A bowl of that with rice, an egg, mushrooms in the soup or even a piece of light fish is a full and very nutritious breakfast.

[skyllalafey]

"We're making soup; just relax" is great cooking advice. Attempting to create soups out of whatever was on hand was how I initially learned to cook... and even if it doesn't come out particularly good, it would be quite the feat to manage to burn soup so that's one less thing to worry about!

[HidekichiSawada]

Miso soup is much simpler, although you can make it with vegetables, dashi and miso as you like.
But because it is simple, it is very deep. Only a restaurant would make it with the same attention to detail as in the video.
In the video, the dashi broth is made from 昆布(kombu seaweed) and 鰹節(Katsuo-bushi: dried bonito flakes), but in our house it is basically 煮干し(Ni-boshi :dried sardines and horse mackerel).
Dashi powder(だしの素: Dashi-no-moto, ほんだし: Hon-dashi) has been on the market for a long time, so you can use that, or you can buy miso that already has dashi in it. Just dissolve it in hot water and add the ingredients.

There are also nori miso soups like the one in the video, but I have not seen nori miso soup with tofu in it (although I think there might be some somewhere). This is the first time I have seen soy sauce added. I don't usually put it in.
There are other soups where soy sauce is added separately to the broth. If you add noodles, it becomes udon and soba.

The basic ingredients of a home made miso soup would be tofu and わかめ(wakame seaweed). Onions are also commonly used. Miso soup with onions and 油揚げ(Abura-age: fried tofu), potatoes and onions, etc. I think almost any vegetable can be added to miso soup and still taste good. There is also miso soup with eggs and tomatoes.
The most recommended is 豚汁(Ton-jiru / Buta-jiru: pork miso soup). Miso soup goes well with oil, and the fat from the pork makes it even tastier. For miso soup with tofu, for example, you could add a teaspoon of olive oil or cooking oil (so that some oil floats to the surface).

Ingredients in pork miso soup.
Thinly sliced pork, daikon radish, carrots, tofu, fried tofu, ごぼう(burdock root), こんにゃく(konnyaku), etc. are often added. This is a miso soup where you eat the ingredients.

After removing the seaweed as shown in the video, the removed seaweed and dried bonito flakes can be added to 炊き込みごはん(cooked rice) or eaten as 佃煮(tsukuda-ni) with the seaweed and dried bonito flakes. Many households throw away seaweed, but the beauty of Japanese food is that it can be transformed into other foods and eaten without being left behind.
Japanese people have been eating seaweed since the Jomon period (about 13, 000 - 2300 years ago), so it is naturally edible, but if you get upset stomachs from eating a lot of seaweed, you may want to use it only in soup stock.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator😜

[echidnadsn]

Great tip on using the strainer to dissolve the miso paste. I’ve always had problems with that, now I know better

[derekdowns]

A few drops of sesame oil is a real game changer! Also, I like to stir in a beaten egg as you would for egg-drop soup and a small handful of peas. If you have water chestnut, slice thinly and drop in as well. White onion sliced thin is good to, but should be added before so they're translucent before other things are in.

[fuzzycuffs]

I mean, you went the traditional route which is fantastic. But in our (Japanese) household we just use dashi powder (kombu, bonito, or a mix). The rest of the steps are the same though.

[floramew]

miso isn't just delicious for me, it's nostalgic. when I was a kid, we lived in japan for a while when my dad was stationed at misawa afb. I attempted to cobble together miso soup last winter from what I could get my hands on locally, which was... well, it wasn't bad. it wasn't a huge way off from miso, either, but it also wasn't as good as I'd hoped. I'm excited to try it with an actual recipe this time that doesn't seem too difficult.

[BusterKitten]

Hi Chef John, when we make our dashi, instead of tossing the bonito flakes after we're done, we will take the bonito, add a little soy sauce and just put it over a steaming bowl of rice for a quick, simple meal.

[astra]

Definitely go easy with the wakame if you're just starting out. I went too far with it the first time...
But wakame can also make a really good seaweed salad.

[jack]

This is a really good breakfast item for people looking for something savory and filling.

[katl]

I love chef John showing the full homemade route for basic dashi. But catch me out in my kitchen with a packet of Ajinomoto Hondashi 😂

[drummerlovesbookworm]

We have miso soup for breakfast most mornings. There is always dashi in my fridge. And cooked rice. And I always cook extra vegetables at dinner for the morning. 
So rice and vegetables along with diced tofu, fresh scallion, and shredded wakame or nori go in the breakfast miso soup to make it hearty. 
It’s comfort in a bowl. And healing.
So many types of miso to try, too!

[chapagnehopita]

Our first visit to Japan was just this month and I really enjoyed miso soup for breakfast! I'm looking forward to trying this.

[Mark]

Chef John's timing is always perfect.

[oregonpatriot]

KUDOS for getting this right John! I'm an Asian chef, and you would be surprised at how many people can mess up something as simple as this!
If you want to go _'vegan'?_ Use dried shiitake mushrooms in place of the bonito flakes.

_What I do to really pack this with umami? I soak my Kombu (dried kelp) and _*_a few dried shiitake mushrooms_*_ for a couple hours. Then simmer everything as you show, removing them with the kelp, before going on to make my miso soup._ Shiitake mushrooms are PACKED with umami so it makes a HUGE difference!

[infinty]

Homemade miso soup is definitely wonderful. If you don't want to make it, freeze dried miso soup packs are actually quite exceptional. If you have a container of miso paste you can add just a small amount to the soup after rehydration and it will be even better.

Definitely go with dashi broth packets if can get them, especially if you're ordering the ingredients online. It will be substantially cheaper and most people really won't care or even be able to tell the difference.

[TheEagleslover]

Chef John your timing is perfect as I’ve been trying my hand at various Asian dishes and miso soup is on my list. Thanks for creating such amazing recipes that we can make at home. I also scroll through the comments for constructive recommendations. I ignore anything that doesn’t offer anything that doesn’t enhance or bring solid advice to the table.

[jackiematsumura]

We add sliced fish cake or drop in a scrambled egg. Great on cold days.

[userl]

So many wise words in this video. An instant classic. Can’t wait to try making it!