Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup

Whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant I usually pick up a bowl of miso soup. I am a fan of soups of all kinds but this is one of my favorites and I’ve always thought about trying it at home. It turns out making miso is easy and the only trouble I ran into was finding a few of the ingredients. Luckily a local asian market carried the miso paste, seaweed and rice noodles. The other ingredients were easy to find at the grocery store.  Making the soup was really easy and took less than 30 minutes to prepare.  An important part of this recipe is not boiling the broth as it changes the flavor of the diluted miso.  The result is a really great soup that is actually quite versatile–you can add tons of things and it would turn out great. Some examples could be cooked/shredded chicken, potatoes, carrots, bok choy, snap peas, spinach, etc.

Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup
(makes 4 servings)
Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 7 cups water
• 1 block soft tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 servings thin rice stick noodles
• 4 tbsp miso, diluted
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
• 2 green onions, sliced thin
• 1 tbsp dried wakame, flaked
• sprinkle sesame seeds
• sesame oil
• handful bean sprouts

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil. Dilute miso in 1/2 cup warm water.
2. Add the rice noodles to the water and cook until soft.
3. Add the wakame flakes to the noodles and remove from heat.
4. Stir in the miso, shiitake mushrooms and tofu. Set aside for 2-3 minutes.
5. Pour the mixture into bowls and serve with sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onion, and bean sprouts.