There are many different soups in Japanese traditional cuisine, but the most favorite is miso soup.
Miso is a bean paste made by fermentation. Miso-paste is an indispensable attribute of a Japanese meal in the same way as rice. The composition of the paste is boiled and mashed soybeans, in which malt and salt are added. This mixture is left to ferment for a period of one week to a whole year. Soybeans were popular and were the main food of the Japanese in ancient times. There is evidence that soybeans were brought to Japan from China more than two thousand years ago.
Miso-paste can also act as a preservative, therefore, by mixing raw fish with miso, you can maintain its freshness for several weeks. A delicious gravy of vegetables is prepared from miso pasta, as well as sauce for the Dengaku dish, which consists of fried or boiled vegetables with tofu bean curd. In addition, there is another dish that cannot be prepared without such an ingredient as miso pasta - a misosiru recipe (a soup made from seaweed, fish, vegetables and shellfish). Miso soup is cooked from seasonal vegetables, so it is rich in vitamins, carotene and fiber.
Miso-paste is a recipe that contains proteins that are beneficial for the body, glutamic acid, lecithin, vitamins and microorganisms that regulate the intestines. Each region has its own miso. Miso paste may vary in color. Depending on the ingredients, it can be yellowish, red, or brown, or even black. And the consistency is also different: for some it is grainy, while for others it is uniform. The smell of miso paste is also different. It can be very tender and soft, and it can be sharp, piquant. Even the taste of the pasta can be brackish or sweetish - it all depends on the ingredients and cooking technology.
Miso-pasta is not an independent dish, it only emphasizes and enhances the taste of various Japanese dishes. This is precisely the art of preparing Japanese dishes: to reveal and emphasize the taste of each product and the dish as a whole.
Miso soup with seaweed
To prepare this soup, we need to take four glasses of water, 3 pieces of dried Japanese anchovy called niboshi, 100 grams of tofu, 100 grams of dried seaweed, a handful of chopped green onions for decoration, white miso paste to taste.
Put nibosi into the water and bring to a boil, then remove the nibosi. Add a tablespoon of Japanese miso to the water, preferably white, as it is more suitable for this soup. Then add seaweed and tofu, cut into small cubes. As soon as the contents of the pan begin to surface, turn off the fire, since miso does not like boiling and may lose its unique flavor. Serve the soup hot by placing finely chopped green onions in each plate.
Miso Soup with Vegetables
For this soup we need two large carrots, which we need to grate, as well as one small onion and green onion. Finely chop two cloves of garlic. Shred one Chinese cabbage. Tofu cheese must be cut into small cubes with a diameter of about 1 cm.
In a five-liter pan, add a spoonful of vegetable oil, then add onion, carrots, garlic and a tablespoon of ginger, grated. We pass all the vegetables for about 10 minutes.
Then we put slaw cabbage, a spoonful of rice vinegar, a quarter of a spoonful of black pepper. Then pour one and a half liters of water, bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes under a closed lid.
Add 60 ml of hot water to the miso paste and mix. Refuel the resulting soup. Five minutes before the soup is cooked, add the chopped tofu cheese. Serve the dish on the table, decorating it with greens.
Japanese dishes have an unusual taste and originality. In fact, it’s not difficult to cook them, you just need to observe some subtleties. Pamper your favorite Japanese miso pasta dishes - believe me, this is delicious!