Miso Soup

Now that I have made miso soup at home, I might not order it again in a restaurant. It is very easy to make, delicious, healthy, and adaptable to being prepared in different ways. This is how I made Miso Soup I using barley miso:

Ingredients:

3 cups water
1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms (if using dried shiitake mushrooms, see step 1 of directions below)
1/4 thinly sliced green onions
2 - 1/4 inch slices of tofu (from short end), cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 teaspoon hon-dashi (bonito fish soup stock) granules
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 Tablespoons Miso Master Organic Country Barley Miso paste (sold in refrigerator section)
additional 1/3 cup water

( Note: miso paste is sold in the refrigerator section.)

Directions:

Step 1: Dried shiitake mushrooms take approximately 25 minutes to rehydrate This must be done before starting the soup, which then comes together very quickly. To do this you rinse the dried mushrooms, then boil for 3 minutes in a small pot, remove from heat and then let stand, covered, for 20 minutes. Finally, rinse again. They are now ready to be thinly sliced and added to the soup below.

Soup: Bring 3 cups water to boil in medium sized saucepan. Add sliced shiitake mushrooms, green onions and tofu; boil for 2 minutes. Add hon-dashi and sesame oil, stir and remove from heat.

In a 1 cup microwavable pyrex measuring cup, heat the additional 1/3 cup water briefly on High, until it feels warm to the touch, about 10-15 seconds. Remove from the microwave, and to it add 2-3 tablespoons of the cooked soup (broth only), stir. To this measuring cup of warm soup/water mixture, add the 3 tablespoons of miso paste, stirring until fully dissolved (Note -- it is important not to boil the miso (due to the enzymes and beneficial bacteria), that is why you add it to the warm liquid before adding it to the hotter soup.) Finally, add the miso mixture in the pyrex cup to the rest of the soup in the pot and stir well. It is now ready to serve.

(serves 4)