Bacon and Corn Miso Soup ベーコンとコーンの味噌汁

With the perfect balance of umami and natural sweetness, my versatile Bacon and Corn Miso Soup pairs well with Western or Japanese meals. This satisfying soup is easy and quick to make in just 10 minutes. {Vegan/Vegetarian Adaptable}

Fresh sweet corn is absolutely one of the star vegetables that summer brings forth. There are literally endless ways to enjoy it—they are good raw or grilled, in stir-fries or in rice dishes, and in sweet desserts. They are even amazing in a creamy and velvety soup like Corn Potage , or in a light soup like Bacon and Corn Miso Soup that I’m sharing today.

If you manage to buy a dozen ears of corn from the farmers market, you need to reserve one or two just to make this soup!

A Must-Make Soup for Summer

• A super tasty soup with minimal ingredients! The intense sweetness of corn kernels contrasts with salty bacon and crunchy cabbage in umami miso soup—it hits all the right notes.
• This versatile soup can be served with Japanese, Asian, or even Western-style meals! I think it makes a beautiful entree soup for any BBQ.
• Perfect summer soup as it is light yet substantial (with the addition of protein) and takes minutes to make.

Ingredients for Bacon and Corn Miso Soup

• Dashi packets – If you enjoy drinking miso soup regularly, I recommend keeping a bag of dashi packets in the pantry as it is the easiest way to make dashi (Japanese soup stock). I use the Kayanoya brand, which you can get on Amazon or from Japanese grocery stores.
• Water
• Sweet corn
• Bacon – Skip for vegan and use smoked tofu or shiitake mushrooms.
• Green cabbage
• Miso – Feel free to use any type of miso, except for Hatcho or Saikyo miso.
• Yuzu kosho — Optional, but a little dollop of this Japanese citrus chili paste) adds an incredible umami depth and a spicy kick to the overall flavor of the soup.

Substitution Tips

• For vegetarian/vegan, use vegan dashi for the soup stock.
• Skip the bacon or use smoked tofu or shiitake mushrooms. If you happen to have leftover grilled tofu, grilled tempeh, and mushrooms, this is the best soup to make!
• No green cabbage? Napa cabbage is the closest substitute, but feel free to use other leafy greens, such as spinach or bok choy. If using leafy greens, add them only toward the end of cooking as they cook a lot faster than cabbages.
• No fresh sweet corn but really want to make the soup? You can use frozen corn kernels.

How to Make Bacon and Corn Miso Soup

1. Make the dashi (Japanese soup stock): Add water and dashi packets to a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, for 2-3 minutes. Then, discard the dashi packets and transfer the dashi to a measuring cup or another container.
2. Prep the ingredients
3. Cook the soup: Heat the same saucepan until it’s hot. Cook the bacon until slightly charred. Add the cabbage and stir to coat in the rendered fat. Add the dashi. Then, add the corn kernels. Cover and cook until the cabbage is tender. Turn off the heat.
4. Add the miso and serve: Stir in the miso paste until dissolved. Taste and adjust. Ladle the miso soup into individual bowls.
5. Serve hot with optional yuzu kosho. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips

• If you don’t plan on making the soup right away with the fresh sweet corn you buy, you can shave the kernels off the cob and freeze them. When you’re ready to make the soup, you can use the kernels directly from the freezer.
• Just like with all miso soups, always add the miso paste right before serving to enjoy its best flavor and aroma!

How to Store

I personally recommend consuming miso soup immediately because it will lose its aroma and taste over time.

However, if you have leftovers, cool the soup to room temperature (no longer than 4 hours), store in an airtight container, and keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. When ready to use, reheat in a pot over medium heat, but do not boil.

What to Serve with This Miso Soup

I love making this soup especially when I plan on making recipes with green cabbages on the same week, For examples, I would need cabbage for Okonomiyaki, Asian Coleslaw, or Yaki Udon, and I can toss in bacon and sweet corn to any of the recipes, so I get to stretch my ingredients out.

For the summer, I like to keep my meals relatively simple, so I’ll serve this Bacon and Corn Miso Soup to go with my light lunch or as an entree to any BBQ meal.

• Main – Fried Rice, Onigiri or Yaki Onigiri, Yakitori, Soba Noodle Salad

Celebrate Miso Day Every Month

This recipe is part of my Miso Soup Day  (味噌の日) series, where I share a new miso soup on the 30th of every month. There are many different flavors that highlight seasonal and year-round ingredients, so you can enjoy the soup anytime!

Check out my collection of miso soup recipes!

Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.

Bacon and Corn Miso Soup

5 from 4 votes

With the perfect balance of umami and natural sweetness, my versatile Bacon and Corn Miso Soup pairs well with Western or Japanese meals. This satisfying soup is easy and quick to make in just 10 minutes. {Vegan/Vegetarian Adaptable}

Print Pin

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

Total Time: 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock)

• ▢ 4 cups water (or substitute 3½ cups (840 ml) Awase Dashi or Vegan Dashi)
• ▢ 2 dashi packets (skip if using dashi stock instead of water; skip for vegan and use Vegan Dashi)

For the Miso Soup

• ▢ 1 ear sweet corn (medium, with husks; about 10 oz, 283 g each)
• ▢ 2 slices bacon (skip for vegan and use smoked tofu or shiitake mushrooms; see the blog post for more ideas)
• ▢ 2 leaves green cabbage
• ▢ 3 Tbsp miso (plus more, to taste; any type works except for Hatcho or Saikyo miso)

For Serving

• ▢ yuzu kosho (Japanese citrus chili paste) (optional)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients. Keep the bacon in the refrigerator or freezer so it‘ll be easier to cut.
  

To Make the Dashi

• To a medium saucepan, add 4 cups water and 2 dashi packets. Cover the saucepan with a lid and bring it to a boil on medium heat.
  
• Once the water is boiling, shake the dashi packets with cooking chopsticks to release more flavor. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 2–3 minutes. Discard the packets. Then, transfer the dashi to a measuring cup or another container. Set aside the saucepan to cook the miso soup later.
  

To Prepare the Ingredients

• Wrap a wet paper towel around 1 ear sweet corn with the husks on. Cook in the microwave for 2 minutes (1000W).
  
• Carefully remove the paper towel, husks, and silk from the hot corn. With a knife, cut off the corn kernels from the cob.
  
• Remove the tough core of 2 leaves green cabbage and cut the leaves into 1-inch-square pieces.
  

To Cook the Soup

• Remove 2 slices bacon from the refrigerator. Cut crosswise into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces. I removed the extra fat from the ends. Heat the medium saucepan on medium heat. When it‘s hot, add the bacon; you do not need to add oil to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally.
  
• Cook until nicely brown on both sides. When the bacon‘s edges are slightly charred, wipe off the rendered fat from the saucepan with a paper towel. The bacon will continue to release more fat as it cooks, so don‘t worry about losing flavor.
  
• Add the cabbage and stir to coat in the rendered fat.
  
• Add the dashi. Then, add the corn kernels.
  
• Cover with a lid and cook until the cabbage is tender, about 1–2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Tip: In the next step, we'll add the miso off the heat to keep it from boiling and losing its flavor and aroma.
  

To Add the Miso

• Right before serving, put 3 Tbsp miso in a ladle, add some hot stock to the ladle, and stir with chopsticks to dissolve completely. Then add to the soup. Alternatively, you can use a fine-mesh miso strainer and/or a miso muddler to dissolve it faster. Now, taste the soup and add more miso, if needed. If it‘s too salty, dilute with more water or dashi (if you have any). Serve immediately in individual bowls.
  

To Serve

• Serve hot with optional yuzu kosho (Japanese citrus chili paste). Enjoy!

To Store

• It‘s best to consume all the miso soup right away because it loses aroma and taste over time. If you‘d like to keep leftovers, cool the soup to room temperature (no longer than 4 hours), store in an airtight container, and keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer. When ready to use, reheat in a pot over medium heat until it‘s just hot; do not boil.

Nutrition

Calories: 125 kcal · Carbohydrates: 16 g · Protein: 5 g · Fat: 6 g · Saturated Fat: 2 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g · Trans Fat: 0.02 g · Cholesterol: 7 mg · Sodium: 409 mg · Potassium: 240 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 5 g · Vitamin A: 144 IU · Vitamin C: 5 mg · Calcium: 9 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: bacon, cabbage, corn, miso

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