Japanese Feast: Miso Soup

There is nothing like a good miso soup to start a meal, and if you can be bothered to stock up on Japanese larder essentials, you might well find yourself making it again and again. 

The key to a good miso soup is a top quality miso paste and a really good stock (dashi), which is ever so simple to make but requires a muslin cloth. I usually make a big batch and freeze a lot of it so I only have to wash up once!

Miso Soup

These are my favourite pastes, available from the Japan Centre or upstairs at New Loon Moon in Chinatown

Ingredients:

(Serves 8)

10 x 20cm piece of konbu seaweed

5g of Benito fish flakes

1.2 litres water

5+ tablespoons of white miso paste

200g silken tofu, cut into small cubes

3 Spring onions to garnish, finely diced to garnish

Method:

Pour the cold water into a sauce pan and place a piece of konbu seaweed and a shitake mushroom in it, weighing the mushroom down with a plate and leaving it to soak for 10 minutes. Then bring the mix to the boil, removing the seaweed just before it starts to bubble properly, add the fish flakes and, as soon as they have sunk to the bottom (a few minutes), strain the mixture through a muslin cloth.

Dashi

Just before you are ready to serve, heat up your stock to near boiling point. Gradually pour some of the hot stock into your miso in mixing bowl, incorporate, and return it to the saucepan. Heat for a few more minutes so it is just on the point of boiling and serve up into bowls with the tofu in them. Sprinkle on the spring onions and serve.

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Flo and Na’ama’s Japanese Feast

Last week, my lovely friend Na’ama and I challenged ourselves to a day of Japanese culinary excursion in honour of a semi-reunion with old friends. 

The Japanese theme arose from a French Kusmi book about how to cook with tea, which had some rather delicious looking Matcha green tea tarts. 

Na’ama then decided upon a terrifyingly technical mackerel dish she had enjoyed at the Ledbury, and, to hedge our bets and make sure no one went hungry, I added a three more courses. Eek!

The Menu

Miso Soup

Chicken Yakitori with Pickled Vegetables

Nasu Dengaku (Miso Glazed Aubergines)

Flame-grilled Mackerel with Smoked Eel and Shiso

Matcha and Raspberry Tartlets

You will be please to know that we pulled it off against the odds, and would definitely recommend the menu if you want to spend a day cooking(it really does take the best part of a day). If not, elements of the menu slot in very nicely with other, less high maintenance dishes. 

Over the next few days, I will be posting the recipes for each of the courses. Watch this space...