Updated on November 11th, 2022
If you are looking for a new vegan soup recipe, you can try white (Shiro) miso, Niboshi dashi, or Hanamaruki white soybean paste. These Japanese miso pastes use dried baby sardines instead of tuna and other vegetables and seasonings. Here are a few recipes for miso soup. After reading them all, you’ll be well-equipped to start making your own delicious vegan soups!
What Exactly is Miso Soup?
An essential blend of Dashi and miso forms the foundation of classic miso soup. Dashi is a Japanese soup stock made from dried bonito flakes, kelp, and anchovies, and Dashi is a popular ingredient in Japanese cuisine.
Other items, including tofu, veggies, and seaweed, can also be used. The soup has a warm, delicious flavor with diverse textures thanks to this blend of ingredients.
According to Wikipedia, it is a Japanese tradition to select ingredients representing the seasons and giving color, texture, and flavor contrasts. As a result, Negi and tofu, which blend a powerfully flavored food with a gently flavored ingredient, are frequently combined. Ingredients that float, like wakame seaweed, are paired with ingredients that sink, like potatoes. Mushrooms (nameko or shiitake), potato, taro, seaweed, green laver, onion, common bean, shrimp, fish, clams, and sliced daikon are possible ingredients. Aside from dashi stock and miso, most miso soup recipes have only a few additional ingredients.
Daikon, abura-age (deep-fried tofu), potatoes, onions, and black miso types are hearty and robust cold-weather variations. Lighter variants, such as cabbage, seri, myoga, and eggplant, are more suited for the spring and summer months.
Vegan Miso Soup Recipes
Simple Vegan Miso Soup Recipe
Prepare the seaweed first. Allow the kombu to soak in the cooking water for as long as feasible if you have the time. Soak your wakame in a separate cup of water until soft, about 5 minutes.
In a medium pot, bring the kombu and cooking water to a boil. Allow the mushrooms to simmer for another 2-3 minutes before turning off the heat.
Add the miso paste once the water has stopped boiling. Pour a little amount of broth into a soup ladle, then stir in the miso paste with chopsticks before adding to the rest of the soup. If you don’t add the miso paste gradually, you’ll wind up with chunks of miso in your soup.
Stir gently after adding the tofu and wakame to the saucepan. Serve and enjoy the soup by dividing it into dishes and garnishing it with green onions.
Simple Vegan Miso Soup Recipe with Noodles
Cook the noodles as directed on the packet. Drain the water and set it aside.
When the water in a pot begins to boil, add the dried wakame seaweed and simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat.
In a small bowl, combine the miso paste with some hot water and whisk until smooth. Remove the pot from the heat and add to the soup, stirring constantly.
Stir in the tofu and green onion once more. If you like, you can cook the tofu and green onion for 5 minutes, but it’s not required. The miso paste should not be cooked.
What is the Best Miso Paste for Miso Soup?
While any miso paste will work in this vegan miso soup, you may want to pick one that suits your tastes. The darker the miso, the more concentrated the flavor. White miso is the mildest of the miso varieties, making it ideal for individuals who prefer a milder flavor. We usually use yellow miso paste since it has a deeper hue.
What are the Health Benefits of Miso Soup?
Researchers from Japan’s National Cancer Centre reported in 2003 that “eating three or more bowls of the Japanese delicacy every day could reduce women’s risk of breast cancer.”
Miso soup consumption has been demonstrated to lower blood pressure and pulse rate, as well as increase healthy bacteria in the intestines and aid prevent constipation, according to studies published in 2020.
Miso soup is also known for being low in calories.
What Makes Miso Soup Good for you?
Miso soup has numerous health benefits, including weight loss, digestion, and immune health. Miso soup provides the body with numerous critical nutrients and a delicious flavor. Here are a few advantages:
Miso is high in nutrition and contains vitamins and minerals such as vitamin K, manganese, zinc, protein, and calcium. Many of these nutrients sustain vital organs and systems, such as the bones and neurological system.
Miso’s strong probiotic content aids digestion and helps the body maintain healthy bacteria levels. This bacteria aids digestion by alleviating gas, diarrhea, bloating, and constipation.
Miso soup’s probiotics also reduce the formation of undesirable bacteria, enhance blood circulation, and, as a result, strengthen your immune system. Probiotic-rich diets can also help you recover from illnesses faster and need antibiotics less frequently.
Miso contains lecithin-rich soybeans, which help to lower cholesterol. This plant-based chemical aids in blood vessel strengthening and cholesterol reduction.
Improves mental health: Soybeans contain acetylcholine, which can help with memory, and vitamin B, which can help with stress relief.
How do you Include Miso Soup in your Diet?
San-J White Miso Soup and Wakame Soup Mix make it simple to incorporate miso soup into your diet. You can have an authentic Asian supper in minutes when you use these simple soup packets. San-J instant miso soup is healthful and gluten-free, with a robust, savory flavor profile that provides the ideal nutritional balance. It’s also simple to add your favorite ingredients to take it to the next level.
Don’t know what to put in your miso soup? Add these delicious ingredients to make it even better:
Shrimp, fish, clams, or crab are examples of seafood, and carrots, potatoes, and onions are examples of root vegetables.
Butternut squash or acorn squash
Asparagus, broccoli, spinach, and green beans are examples of greens.
Ganmodoki, atsuage, or aburaage tofu
Soba, udon, ramen, or rice noodles are all options.
What is Miso Paste’s History?
What makes miso soup so unique? Paste of miso
Miso is thought to have originated in China and was brought to Japan by Buddhist priests about 1,300 years ago. It was produced from fermented salt, grains, and soybeans and was used to keep food fresh during the summer.
Miso is created with various components throughout Japan, including rice in the north, sweet white miso around Kyoto, soy in the central Aichi prefecture, and barley in the south.
Minerals like zinc, copper, manganese, B vitamins, and vitamin K are abundant in miso. Soy miso also includes antioxidant phytonutrients (source), and it also feeds healthy bacteria to the gut as a fermented food.
Most grocery stores and Asian markets include miso paste in the refrigerated department. It may seem like an odd ingredient to buy just for soup, but it’s cheap, healthful, and versatile in soups, salad dressings, marinades, and Asian-inspired foods. As a result, I thought it was an excellent addition to my pantry.
Tips for Making Miso Soup?
Because miso is a thick paste, mixing it into various meals without lumps can be tricky. You can use a simple approach to evenly combine the miso. A little whisk and a mesh strainer that fits inside the saucepan you’re using are required. Fill the mesh strainer halfway with miso. Submerge the miso and strainer in the water, break it up with the whisk and swirl it into the broth chunk-free.
Because miso is a fermented food, it’s best not to boil or reheat miso soup after adding the miso to avoid killing the probiotics. (I try not to make too much, but if there are any leftovers, I will reheat them.)
If you use miso frequently, you might want to invest in a miso muddler (Amazon affiliate link). It’s a little spherical, double-sided whisk that’s really useful. It can be used as a whisk and a measuring tool. 1 tablespoon is measured on one side, while 1 teaspoon is measured on the other. Dip the whisk end into the miso and twist for a correct measurement.
Conclusion
Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup that has become more popular in Western nations. A base stock, miso paste, tofu, soba noodles, and other veggies are usually used.
Many types of miso soup are vegan unless the recipe calls for fish-derived components. It can be suitable for a pescatarian or vegetarian diet that accepts seafood. Animal items, such as pigs may be present in some miso soups.
If you order miso soup from a restaurant, check the ingredient list or ask the waitstaff.
