Miso Soup (Making the Dashi)

By RoketJSquerl

Your basic ratios are 1 cup of dashi to 1 teaspoon of miso. Dashi is the stock or broth used to make the soup. In the dashi the ratio is 1C water to 1 tablespoon of bonito flakes and 1 tablespoon of kombu. You will also want green onions for garnish.

Ingredients

• 4 T Miso
• 4 T Bonito Flakes
• 4 T Kombu
• 1 Green Onions Sliced, dark green part only
• Soy Sauce if Desired

Preparation

Step 1

1. Put 4 cups (1qt) cold water in a pot. Add the kombu and bring to just before a boil. you want to remove the kombu before the water comes to a boil - do not discard but save it.
2. Bring the water to a boil and then add another cup of cold water to reduce the temperature of the water down.
3. Add the bonito flakes and bring to a boil. As soon as the water has boiled remove from the heat and strain out the bonito and skim if necessary. At this point you have Dashi.
4. Return the Dashi to the heat on medium and add the reserved kombu. In a glass measuring cup put your miso and dissolve in some of the Dashi. (I cheated and used a whisk.) Add the miso to the soup.
5. Bring the soup up to a simmer and serve garnished with green onions.

A couple of notes - I like my green onion a little softer so I put them right in before I bring the soup up to a simmer in step 5. Also you can buy pre-made dashi - so you could skip steps 1-3 but it does really only take 10 minutes.