00:00Amazing, a definite keeper.
00:02That's what one of my readers said about my authentic Japanese miso soup recipe.
00:07Clear, savoury dashi miso whisk through a sieve.
00:11Tough, warm, tender, never broken.
00:14Let's cook.
00:15For a printable version of this recipe, visit my website,
00:18just google miso soups that you'd find me.
00:20First, you will need 5 to 10 grams of dried combo.
00:25This strip is about 15 grams, so I cut it up using scissors.
00:33Gombu is a dried kelp packed with glutamates, indispensable for Japanese cuisine.
00:38Place in a pot filled with 1 litre of cold water and let it soak for at least 30 minutes,
00:44or up to 24 hours covered in the fridge.
00:50If it's a weeknight and time is tight, it's perfectly fine and common in Japan to use dashi packets.
00:56If you take the shortcut, just skip straight to the dashi making step.
01:01High quality tea bag style dashi packs deliver better flavour than granules for minimal effort,
01:08which is my kind of compromise.
01:10Once the kombu is hydrated, set the pot over medium-low heat and watch for small bubbles.
01:17Around 90 and 95 degrees Celsius, remove the kombu.
01:21That's basically when you see these small bubbles.
01:24Don't let the water boil with the kombu as this can add bitterness and even a slimy texture.
01:30Taking it out is one of those tiny choices that keeps the broth clean and elegant.
01:36For the rehydrated kombu, you can make kombu onigiri out of it. Check out my recipe video for how.
01:46Now bring it up to a brief boil, turn off the burner and cool it down with 100ml of cold
01:53water.
01:54Add 2 generous handfuls of katsuobushi, about 2 cups total if you like to measure,
02:00and steep for 3 to 5 minutes without stirring.
02:04Katsuobushi is shaved dried bonito flakes, another crucial ingredient to make authentic Japanese flavour.
02:11Line a sieve with kitchen paper, strain, and you've got a clear fragrant Ichiban dashi.
02:19If you want to repurpose these, use kombu and katsuobushi to make more dashi, which we'll call
02:25niban dashi in Japanese, check out my dashi stock video.
02:29Then slice 30g of fried tofu pouches we call aburage, 30g of Japanese leek,
02:37and 30g of fresh shiitake mushrooms. Then cut 150g of tofu into neat cubes.
02:45This block is about 300g, so I'll only use half of it.
02:49I'm using relatively firm tofu today, but silking is perfectly fine too.
02:54For Japanese leek and shiitake, feel free to use similar local ingredients instead.
03:00Tofu, wakume, aburage, and leeks are why it's called classic miso combo.
03:05But the soup's potential is basically infinite.
03:08If you want to wander further, my complete guide has everything from how to pick the miso
03:13to toppings you didn't know you needed.
03:16Pour the dashi back into a pot and warm it over medium heat.
03:20Just before boiling, add the ingredients that take longer to cook, aburage, leek, and shiitake.
03:28Simmer for a few minutes until they're as tender as you like.
03:32If you're using one tablespoon of dried wakame, add it now so that it rehydrates in the hot broth.
03:38Dried wakame usually comes in a packet like this.
03:44By the way, if you're using root vegetables like carrot or burdock root in your miso soup,
03:49you can cook them in the dashi before everything else, and add the other ingredients later.
03:54Although starchy ingredients like potatoes should be cooked separately.
03:58Okay, once everything is cooked to your liking, turn off the heat, and add a quarter teaspoon of
04:03dabini soy sauce. The tiny amount, but this is my secret ingredient to infuse different umami and
04:09saltiness. It's optional though.
04:11Then scoop four tablespoons of awase yellow miso into a fine mashed spoon or ladle.
04:18Yellow miso is basically a mix of red and white, so if you have them separately, just mix them in
04:24equal parts. Dip into the hot broth and whisk inside the mesh.
04:29Then more broth seep in gradually until the miso fully dissolves into the pot.
04:34No dumping miso straight in, this is how you avoid clumps and keep the soup silky.
04:40If you don't have one of these miso whisks or anything similar, you can place miso paste
04:45in a small bowl and whisk it with a bit of tatashi from the pot to loosen it into a
04:51thin paste.
04:53This will incorporate into our soup a lot easier than just dumping the miso straight in the pot.
04:59Slide in the tofu cubes and let them warm through with the original heat for 2-3 minutes.
05:04By adding the tofu after the miso, we can prevent breakage.
05:08Also, no boiling from here as high heat can mute the miso's aroma.
05:14This now, if it's not salty enough, add a touch more miso.
05:18If it's too salty to your liking, add some hot water.
05:22Ladle the soup into bowls topped with finely chopped green onions, and we're done.
05:27Cozy, comforting, everyday miso soup that you can customise with your favourite ingredients.
05:33Want even more delicious recipes?
05:35Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
05:39Okay, let's go over the ingredients one more time.
05:42And if you're ready to cook, grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box
05:46with a picture that's about to pop up on your screen.
05:49Here we go, the link to the full recipe is on the screen for you now.
05:52And if you want to watch more similar videos, don't miss my soup playlist popping up on your screen as
05:57well.
05:58Thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you in the next one.
06:00Bye.
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