It’s super easy to make authentic Japanese miso soup with savory homemade dashi. The Japanese drink miso soup almost every day with different ingredients. This video and step-by-step tutorial will help you make delicious miso soup at home!
Many of you probably have tried miso soup at least once if you have visited Japanese restaurants. In the US, it is usually served before the main meal with a salad; however, in Japan, miso soup is ALWAYS served at the same time when steamed rice is served.
At the end of this post, you should feel pretty confident to make yourself a bowl of authentic miso soup at home. And trust me, what you make will be 10,000 times better than what you have tasted in restaurants.
Watch How To Make Homemade Miso Soup
It’s super easy to make authentic Japanese miso soup with savory homemade dashi. The Japanese drink miso soup almost every day with different ingredients.
What is Miso Soup?
Most Japanese meals are served with a bowl of steamed rice and a traditional Japanese soup called Miso Soup (味噌汁). As the Japanese drink miso soup almost every day, different kinds of ingredients are added to miso soup depending on the region, season, and personal preference.
Miso soup consists of only 3 components: dashi, miso (soybean paste), and ingredients. We’ll go over how it all works together in details.
Part 1: What is Dashi?
Dashi is Japanese stock, and it is a fundamental ingredient in many Japanese dishes. Miso soup is NOT miso soup without dashi as it’s the most important part of miso soup.
There are several types of dashi you can choose from to make miso soup. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you can make Kombu Dashi. Otherwise, you can make (Awase) Dashi with kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (dried & smoked skipjack tuna shaved into thin flakes). Some folks prefer to make miso soup with Iriko Dashi (anchovy dashi).
For the non-vegetarian version, you have 3 ways to make dashi; dashi powder, dashi packet, or making from scratch (watch my video).
Choice 1) Homemade Dashi: I usually make it from scratch because it is so much simpler and straight forward than making chicken/vegetable stock! All the ingredients for homemade dashi are easily accessible in Japanese and most Asian grocery stores.
Choice 2) Dashi Powder: This is the easiest way and you can find dashi power in Asian grocery stores and online. However, dashi powder brands you can get in the U.S. contain MSG, and it’s hard to find imported MSG-free dashi powder unless your local Japanese grocery stores carry one. I don’t use dashi powder, but if this is your choice, add dashi powder right before adding miso to maximize the flavor.
Choice 3) Dashi Packet: If I’m in hurry, I use a dashi packet to save time. The dashi packets may be difficult to find in your local Asian supermarkets, but well-stock Japanese grocery stores should carry at least one brand. My personal favorite is Kayanoya brand – this popular dashi brand from Japan recently came to the US (yes!), and we can even buy their dashi packet online (I buy from Nijiya Market). It’s slightly more expensive than other brands, but it’s very good quality and yummy.
Pro Tip! The Japanese cooking requires dashi in many recipes. You can make a big batch of dashi and store in the refrigerator up to 1 week, and it’s always ready to go. Use dashi for different recipes throughout the week and if you have any leftover at the end of the week, make miso soup to finish up your weekly batch. If you have your dashi standing by, you can make miso soup in under 10 minutes!
Part 2: What is Miso?
Miso (味噌), fermented soybean paste, is made from soybeans, grains (steamed rice or barley), salt, and koji culture (麹, a fermentation starter). It is left to ferment in cedar-wood kegs at ambient temperature for six months to five years.
The different colors of miso types are indicative of the different ratio of soybeans and rice used to make the miso, and the length of the fermentation period. The longer the fermentation, the darker and richer the miso is. The taste, aroma, texture and appearance of miso all vary by different regions in Japan.
Miso paste varies in saltiness depending on type (e.g. red/aka miso, white/shiromiso, mixed/awase miso) and by brand, therefore you will need to adjust the proper amount of miso based on your preference.
To learn more about miso on my blog, click here. If you are interested in making your own miso at home read about it here.
Typical Japanese miso soup bowl holds about 200 ml of liquid. Miso varies in saltiness depends on types and brands; but as a general rule, we add 1 tablespoon (20 g) of miso per one miso soup bowl (200 ml dashi).
If you feel like the brand of miso you use is too bland, you can blend 2-3 types of miso together for more complex flavors. Otherwise, if you have good quality miso, enjoy its unique characteristics. There are so many types of miso to choose from in Japan (like cheese!).
And remember, NEVER boil miso soup once miso is added because it loses flavors and aromas.
Part 3: Various Ingredients
I assume most of you have tried tofu miso soup at Japanese restaurants. Have you tried miso soup that has other ingredients? In Japan, because we drink miso soup every day, we make it with different ingredients.
Root vegetables need to be cooked for a long time to get tender. Therefore, we add root vegetables into dashi BEFORE BOILING, and simmer until they become tender. Then you can add ingredients that are quick to cook.
Green onions/scallions, mitsuba (Japanese herbs), hydrated wakame seaweed, and yuzu are added right before serving as they do not need to be cooked.
Ingredients that are added BEFORE BOILING DASHI
- Daikon
- Onion
- Kabocha
- Potato
- Turnip
- Carrot
- Manila clams
Ingredients that are added AFTER DASHI IS BOILING
- Cabbage
- Bean sprouts
- Eggplant
- Okra
- Spinach
- Shimeji mushrooms
- Maitake mushrooms
- Enoki mushrooms
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)
- Tofu (silken or medium)
- Yuba (soybean curd)
- Wakame seaweed
- Green onions/scallions
- Negi (long green onion/leeks)
Other Variations of Miso Soup
HEALTH BENEFITS OF MISO SOUP
Japanese people drink miso soup daily as we believe this delicious, healing soup is a gateway to great health. Here are just some of the health benefits of miso soup:
1. Helps maintain healthy digestive system
With its beneficial probiotics, drinking miso soup helps to improve your overall digestion and absorption of nutrients.
2. Good Source of Nutrients
Miso is rich in minerals as well as copper, manganese, protein, Vitamin K and zinc. Drinking a bowl of miso soup a day is like taking natural supplement for your health.
3. Good for bones
Miso soup provides many bone-building minerals like calcium, magnesium, and manganese, which helps to reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis.
4. Improve your heart
The natural chemical compounds in miso, such as Vitamin K2, linoleic acid and saponin, are known to reduce the risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol.
Now that you’ve learned about the health benefits of miso soup and how to make it at home. I hope you enjoy this nourishing soup every day!
Other Miso Recipes:
If you are interested in learning how to cut Tofu, read How To Cut Tofu.
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- 4 cups water (4 cups = 960 ml)
- 20 g kombu (dried kelp) (4” x 5” or 10 x 13 cm = 20 g)
- 3 cups katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) (3 loose cups = 30 g)
Using Dashi Powder and Dashi Packet? Click here to get instructions.
- Clean kombu with damp towel. NEVER wash kombu! Do not remove the white substance on kombu -that’s umami! You just need to make sure there is no dirty particles left. Soak the kombu in water for 30 minutes to overnight (preferred).
- Now this is Kombu dashi and if you’re vegetarian/vegan, use this kombu dashi for your miso soup. If you’re not, continue next step.
- Pour kombu dashi into a saucepan and SLOWLY bring to boil on medium low heat. You want to extract umami from kombu as much as possible. Right before boiling, discard the kombu. If you leave it inside, it gets slimy and leave bitter taste. Therefore we always remove it.
- Add Katsuobushi and let it simmer for 30- 60 seconds. Turn off the heat and let katsuobushi steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain dashi and ready to use! the katsuo kombu dashi. You can save dashi for 3-7 days in the refrigerator and up to 3 weeks in freezer. You can use leftover to make Furikake (rice seasonings).
- In this recipe, we make 2 serving of miso soup, which requires half portion of the dashi you made. Save the half for later (in the fridge or freezer) or double the recipe and use all dashi you made. Add the dashi into a saucepan.
Add hard vegetables like root vegetables in dashi BEFORE you boil it. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer until they become tender. You also start cooking clams in pre-boiling dashi. Once the shells are open, turn off the heat (do not overcook). If your miso soup doesn’t include hard ingredients, go to next step.
- Soft vegetables like leafy green, mushrooms, deep fried tofu pouch are added AFTER dashi is boiling because they require less cooking time. If your miso soup doesn’t include these ingredients, go to next step.
Add small amount of miso at a time (in this recipe, you can start with 2 Tbsp miso for 2 cups dashi). Put miso inside a ladle and slowly add dashi into the ladle to let the miso dissolved completely. You can buy a special miso strainer which helps you dissolve miso faster. If you accidentally added too much miso, dilute the miso soup with dashi (or water if you don't have it around. I recommend making a weekly batch of dashi - see my post). Once you add miso, NEVER BOIL miso soup because it loses flavors and fragrance.
Add tofu AFTER miso is completely dissolved because you might break tofu when mixing in miso. If you added chilled tofu from the fridge and miso soup got cooler, reheat miso soup, but stay around in the kitchen to avoid boiling miso soup.
Add rehydrated wakame (seaweed). I recommend re-hydrating dried wakame in a separate bowl of water to get rid of excess salt, instead of re-hydrating inside miso soup. Add ingredients that do not require cooking such as chopped green onions, mitsuba, yuzu, and blanched spinach right before serving to keep the fresh fragrance and color. Serve immediately.
In general, it's best to use up all the miso soup because miso's fragrance and taste will be lost as time passes by. Let your miso soup cool at room temperature (up to 4 hours - otherwise miso soup can become bad) and then refrigerate. You can keep for up to 2 days. If you want to make a big batch, it's best to keep the soup BEFORE adding miso. Add the miso only for the portion you need. You can freeze miso soup for up to 2 weeks. Make sure miso soup will not contain potatoes or tofu as they change their texture. And make sure not to boil the miso soup when you're reheating.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on Mar 3, 2011. The post has been updated with better pictures, a new video, and more detailed recipe (same recipe).
I love miso soup, I use to drive like 40 minutes to my favorite Japanese restaurant for miso soup and seaweed salad 🙂 Can’t wait to make it at home!
Hi Firefly – Haha 40 minutes! But I know, for a good food I’d do the same (now a little hard to do with 2 kids)! I’m not sure where you live, but I hope you can find Dashi from Japanese/Asian store. If there is an Asian store, I’m pretty sure you can at least buy Hondashi powder. Now my Chinese husband can’t end a dinner without drinking miso soup. Hehe.
I’m very fond of miso soups! So far, I’ve tried different kinds of miso (white rice miso, red miso, and dark barley miso), and the red I absolutely like the best! 😀 There’s a very nice Asian supermarket in Heidelberg where I tend to spend 1/3 of the overall money I spend on food … They already know me there. 😀 It’s the only store where I get kabocha squash all the around the year, and I also bought my rice cooker there and some bowls and a sake set. 🙂
A thing I find very sad is that so many products (unfortunately also a lot of Japanese products) are stuffed with MSG. Among the (Japanese) sauces, only basic soy sauce (I always buy Kikkoman) comes without, so I rather mix special condiments at home than buy a readily done product (like teriyaki sauce) to avoid MSG. I also have sake and mirin and use them very often. (Look at my tags! ;)) Sadly, also many miso pastes contain MSG, but I’ve found one brand that sells red miso paste without. Recently, I’ve also bought organic miso (we have a very nice organic supermarket here, and since there’s a lady who is a macrobiotic nutrition counseler in my quarter of the city, they also sell a lot of Japanese products that are often used in macrobiotic cooking, like miso, brown mochi rice, or adzuki beans :D), but haven’t tried it yet.
I cook a lot of miso soups with different ingredients, but haven’t made the traditonal miso soup with tofu. I know that one from sushi restaurants, but it rather has wakame than green onions.
I need to post more miso soup recipes … 😉
Hi Kath – thank you for writing! I love feedback and thank you for taking your time to write to me. 🙂
I’m glad you are close to some Asian market where you can find Kabocha. I love that sweet pumpkin (squash) but it’s hard to cut, isn’t it? haha.
Yes I hear you about MSG. I worry a lot about kids’ snack that contains MSG (although I grew up with it). About MSG in condiments, actually we have more organic condiments than years ago. If your store has only made-in-USA Kikkoman brands, etc, then you may not see organic ones. If they carry imported condiments, they should have organic kinds. So here I write in Japanese so you can find (hopefully) organic ones. Please look for 有機 (organic; yuuki) and 無添加 (additive-free; read “mutenka”). Most of condiments I buy are imported ones and they are organic and additive-free. Just no translation on the bottles… sorry….
My kids love miso soup and I put a lot of veggies in it so they drink everything. My fav combination is wakame, onion, tofu, and aburaage. I also love Tonjiru (have recipe here). My kids love cold miso soup with cabbage in it. My husband loves clams miso soup. We drink almost everyday so we have lots of variation.
Your not kidding about the Kabocha… My wife and I love them; but I cringe every time she brings one home. We can only find the smaller ones that are rock hard in our neighborhood and it’s my job to deal with them. 🙂 I ended up quickly blanching them and have a cheap heavy cleaver and a rubber mallet for the purpose. Not letting my good knives go near those again. 😉
Hi NeilVN! Haha it’s cool you are the man to take care of kabocha! I wrote a post about how to cut kabocha here with tip.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/kabocha-squash/
Kabocha miso soup is so sweet and delicious. 🙂
A novel, sorry. 😉
Hehee I love it!
Haha, thank you so much! The products at the Asian market where I buy my things are from Japan directly, but I don’t think I’ve seen organic soy sauce. They have wheat-free (tamari), MSG-free, and GMO-free, though. (Thank God there’s GMO labelling obligation now, some products in fact contain GMO soy, and it’s marked.) At the organic supermarket where I also like to buy I can get organic soy sauce, miso, mirin, nori, wakame, etc, but it’s twice as expensive. 🙁
I love miso soups and have them quite often. Not every day, but several times a week. I also made one with clams a while ago and it was very good. 😀
So, I think now I’ve commented and bookmarked half of your blog. Time to put you into my blogroll. 🙂
Kath, I think your Asian store sounds like a very nice one (I like when they sell imported one since that’s what I use). Asian cooking is not so MSG free focus, unfortunately, and I can see it’s hard for you to pick some products. I think Ajinomoto (Japanese seasoning company) made the first MSG or something (if I remember correctly), so it’s very connected in the food industry for sure… Thank you for putting my website in your blogroll. I feel very honored. 🙂
I love miso soup and have never made it successfully. Just reading this recipe, I can see that it will work. I will have to find a japanese store (which is not difficult on the Gold coast) for the dashi jiru
Your blog is fascinating, I can’t wait to come back and check out more of the recipes.
Thank you and I hope you will enjoy it. You can add root veggies (daikon, carrots, potatoes, etc) or leafy veggies (spinach, cabbage etc) – these are my kids’ favorites!
We went out for sushi tonight and of course, the first thing we were serve was a bowl of tofu miso soup. While drinking it, I told Bob that I’ve GOT to learn how to make it because it is one of my most favorite soups! And here it is! Perfect timing! Thanks again Nami – you’re helping me expand my culinary repertoire!
I love miso soup, Nami, so thanks for this recipe – will be trying it as soon as I assemble the ingredients. Lovely, lovely photos (as always). Hope you and your family are enjoying the weekend.
I love Miso soup and was looking for an easy recipe for quite sometime!! Thanks for sharing this recipe Nami 🙂
It’s a must try since even my 9 yr old loves this in Japanese restaurants!!!
I was looking for a good and proper miso soup (I used to cook it a long time ago!) and I’ve immediately stopped by your lovely blog. Thank you very much : )
Not sure how much it matters, but I can’t find Japanese branded tofu. I can only get tofu with Korean, Chinese, or all English on the package. Last time I chose the organic Korean soft tofu. I was wondering if Japanese tofu had a different taste? The one I used tonight was good, but had a kinda strong flavor. The texture didnt look like the one in your picture… It’s soft and not silken tofu? Thanks!
Hi Steven! I on the other hand never bought non-Japanese brand tofu, so it’s hard to say (plus there are many brands available for Korean and Chinese). I think Korean, Chinese and Japanese soft tofu are pretty similar. Or at least when I eat at the restaurant, the tofu seems “similar” if not “same”. Each brand also makes tofu very differently too, so if you think the one you tried had a strong flavor, you may want to try a different brand. For this recipe (particularly this photo shoot), I’m using Japanese brand tofu, and it’s very smooth and silken. You can put any kinds of tofu (there is no rule what kind of tofu to use for miso soup). Hope this helps. 🙂
This is a great nutritional value, vegetarian and delicious soup!! I love your recipes.
Hi Maria! Thank you so much for your kind comment. Yes, miso has a wonderful nutritious benefit (only thing we need to worry is the salt content – make sure you don’t put too much). I am glad you enjoy my recipes! Thanks for writing! 🙂
Hi Nami, what brand of miso paste do you prefer?
Hi Amy! I love Hikari Miso brand and have been using for the past 7 years or so. I hope your neares Japanese supermarket carries this brand. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/miso/
September 20, 2013
I wanted to thank you for this recipe. I made the homemade dashi stock and then the miso soup and they were both perfect. Just the tastes I was craving.
Thank you so much for the recipe!
Hi Lynn! I’m so glad you made miso soup from scratch! It tastes much much better than one from restaurants. Try different variation. If you put root vegetables, makes sure you cook them till tender without miso. Thank you for your feedback! 🙂
May I know at what age is it appropriate for a child to try miso soup?
Hi Anthea! Just like for all the foods, you should be careful to introduce a new food because your child might have an allergic reaction to certain foods. Please consult with your baby’s pediatrician first.
In general in Japan, we start feeding miso soup right before a baby turns 1 year old. Instead of giving “regular” (adult) miso soup, we dilute miso soup so that salt content is not too strong, maybe dilute about 4 times. You can scoop the top layer of miso soup (less salty) and dilute it.
Again, I recommend you to consult with your baby’s pediatrician first. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Thanks Nami for your reply. He is coming to 2yo in November and we will be heading to Tokyo for the big day 😉 Since we are going to Japan, thought of letting him try out all these common food first before going there. Here in Malaysia, I’ve asked his doctor before about some of those high allergen food, he said once he turned 1yo should be ok to try everything – except for half cook or raw food.
hello! my name is marcela and i am from brazil. I would like to thank you for posting this amazing recipes. I made almost everything and they taste like heaven. I can not explain my gratitude for this website. I thank you from heart for your recipes.
thank you
ps: soory for the poor english is not my native language
Hi Marcela! I understood your English perfectly. I do struggle writing and speaking in English too and I’m not 100% comfortable. 🙂
I’m really happy to hear you enjoy my recipes and thank you so much for your feedback. Let me know if my English explanation is not clear, etc. I’d be happy to help. Thanks again!
Hi Anthea! I see! That’s very good idea. You will be drinking miso soup if rice is served to the meal. 🙂 Hope you enjoy a trip to Japan! 🙂
I totally forgot about those little packets! My mom used them, thanks for the sweet memory
Hi June! No problem! Those packets are so easy for daily use. 🙂
Lovely blog! My son loves miso soup and I’m glad to find your recipe 🙂 I can add ramen too right?
Hi Jude! Thank you! I hope you enjoy my miso soup recipe. Well, just to note that adding ramen in miso soup won’t be like miso ramen…. Ramen is not a good noodle to put in miso soup, unless you really want to add… I’d recommend somen noodles or udon noodles. Ramen is a bit awkward, but it’s up to you! 🙂
Is that so? Thanks for telling me. I don’t know anything about Japanese food except for tempura, sushi and ramen haha! For this year, I want to enchant the dishes I cook for my family so I’ve been trying other Asian recipes. I’m so happy i chanced upon your blog . Excited to learn more….but I need to find a Japanese grocery near our place to buy my miso paste and dashi 🙂
Hi Jude! I mean, it’s up to your preference I guess. But you will not find ramen noodles in miso soup in Japan. Something that we don’t put in miso soup. 🙂 Miso should be pretty easy to find and some American stores like Whole Foods even carry it. For Dashi, you can buy an instant dashi (powder), but if you want to make it from scratch, you may need to visit Japanese or Korean or Asian markets to buy kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). Hope you give it a try! 🙂
Hello Nami,
Thank you for a very informative and well-produced blog. Regarding dashi, I have 2 questions/comments. I used to buy a 1 lb. box of Hondashi of a well-known brand but no more; reason, the first two ingredients are salt, glucose, etc! Regarding katsuo, the only flaked bonito easily available in most of the US hana katsuo, better for furikake than for dashi. The dark katsuo for dashi is not really found here. Niboshi or sardine/anchovies are found in Korean stores and their dashida can be prepared at a lower expense. While not katsuo-dashi, different dashi-s exist in Japan, do they not, in addition to vegetarian ones? Could you please teach us alternatives to the bonito dashis? Thank you very much.
Hi Gautam! Thank you so much for reading my blog!
Yes, I am also not a fan of Hondashi or similar brand and don’t use them. However, I have MSG-free powder dashi from Hikari Miso and this one is pretty decent (and I use it when I need a bit of dashi flavor, but never used in my blog).
Katsuobushi – I live very close to several Japanese supermarkets here in SF and I am not familiar with the rest of US, so thank you for your feedback. 🙂 I use Hana Katsuo or big flake katsuobushi for making dashi, instead of small katsuobushi.
I’m going to make Iriko Dashi post soon. This is much easier to make as you mentioned because Korean stores always carry anchovies.
Dashi in Japan include:
Awase Dashi (kombu + katsuo),
Kombu Dashi (vegetarian),
Katsuo Dashi
Iriko Dashi
and Shiitake Dashi – this is a bit unique one. We soak dried shiitake and keep the liquid for dashi.
That’s it. Only 4 (or 5 if you include shiitake).
In case you haven’t read, here’s dashi post:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to/how-to-make-dashi-jiru/
Hope this helps. 🙂
I am am making miso soup tonight and I was trolling around the Web for recipes and I came upon your blog. It is very interesting and informative and since I want to try making some Japanese recipes, I think I will referring to it a lot! I had to go to Amazon to get dashi and awase miso. it’s hard to find here in Minnesota! So wish me luck on my miso!
Hi Lisa! Welcome to my blog. 🙂 So happy you found my blog! I hope you enjoy cooking Japanese foods. Once you get dashi, mirin, sake, soy sauce, miso, you’re pretty much all set to cook most of Japanese food. 🙂 Hope you enjoy homemade miso soup!
Thank you very much for this recipe! In our house, miso soup is curative. It’s the first thing we offer when someone is not feeling well because it is guaranteed to make us feel better. We’ve only ever used the packaged soup which is okay but not anywhere nearly as good as what we’ve eaten at Japanese restaurants. Just recently we found your site and this recipe. Thank you so much, especially for the instructions and illustration on how to cut soft tofu.
The soup we made this evening was delicious! The first time we try out a new recipe we always follow instructions and don’t make any changes, additions, or subtractions. Your directions are very clear and easy to understand and follow and we appreciated that a lot. For our next try we plan to add mushrooms and/or vegetables other than seaweed.
We also hope to locate an Asian grocer where we can find the ingredients to make dashi from scratch. We bought the powdered kind and it was great but we’d like to get away from the MSG.
Thank you again for your excellent instructions and informative comments.
Hi Annie! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe! These days there are MSG-free powdered dashi (but usually imported from Japan), so you might want to check that out too. Homemade dashi is very easy to make (much easier than making chicken/vegetable broth), and I hope you will make miso soup with homemade dashi. Very delicious! 🙂 Thank you again for your kind feedback!
It is very nice to find your recipe on this site. We just tried to make miso soup tonight before I read this. I didn’t cook the miso, instead, I put it in the bowl and pour the dashi soup base in, but it tasted sour 🙁 May I ask your advice?
Hi Rane! Thank you for finding my site, and welcome to Just One Cookbook! I’m not too sure why it was “sour”. There is no sourness in miso soup component…. How did you make dashi? Powdered dashi, made from scratch, or used something else? And what kind of miso paste did you use?
Hi! Nice I got your response. I think it is not the dashi matter. It is the miso itself? Because I tried to boil the water and put tofu and green onion in, also I put the same miso paste at the end. It still tasted sour. I bought the regular miso, it indicated aka miso on the label.
Thank you for your response!
Hi Rene! Assuming that you tried miso soup before (and know the taste), I think you’re probably not fond of aka miso. It has more distinct flavor (at least to me) and quite different from Shiro miso (white miso) or Awase miso (this is combination of shiro and aka). Each miso brand and type has different flavor so you may like other brand of aka miso too… Hope you don’t mind testing different brands and see which one you like. It took me several years and many different brands to see what brand I like. 🙂 (https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/miso/)
I made it yesterday. It was too much salty, I don’t get why. I used kombu dashi and red miso. Maybe, I got the dosage wrong. Also, please, I got two questions: a part of red miso, something like bran, remain in the strainer, should I put it away or not? Do I have to use the whole scallion or only the white part or the green one?
Hi Fabio! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. Red miso is much saltier than Mixed (Awase miso) or White (Shiro miso), so I assume you just added a bit too much. When that happens, you can simply dilute with dashi (if you have extra – but most likely that doesn’t happen…) or water (hot water preferably). I usually guess the amount of miso, and once in a while I put too much. So I end up diluting to adjust. 🙂
Some miso includes parts of soy beans. They are edible too. It’s up to your preference. My mom usually removed it (as we use the special miso strainer (see step 4) that we can actually take it out), but I’m okay with out without it. So it’s up to you. 🙂
Scallion is also up to preference. I like to use both green and white part, and maybe put 1/2 Tbsp. for each bowl.
Hope this helps!
Hi! 🙂 – Thank you! I’ve just made and eaten it. I’ve added only three teaspoons of red miso. It’s good this time. – I make kombu dashi only to make miso soup till now. Kombu dashi recipe serves 3½ cups and miso soup recipe need 3 cups of it. How much kombu (grams) and water (ml) should I use to make only those 3 cups of dashi for this recipe?
Hi Fabio! Good part of miso soup is that ingredients are simple, and easily adjusted unlike some soup recipes that require pretty specific amount of certain ingredients. So, I recommend you to add just a bit of more miso for the the extra 1/2 cup. Since kombu dashi is more subtle flavor, you could also reduce water amount and make 3 cups instead. They don’t really affect much for the whole flavor. I know this is kind of “cheating” but it doesn’t have to be precise for dashi or miso soup recipe. Hope I’m not making this even more complicated. =P
I’m always careful to follow perfectly recipes, but, if you say that, it’s even better. 🙂 – Last one: I’ve found slices of dried lotus root. Do you think is it a good idea make dashi using it? Is there anything like “lotus dashi” in Japan?
Hi Fabio! Hmm slices of dried lotus root won’t probably make good dashi, and no, we don’t have lotus dashi. 😀 However, it’s a good ingredient for miso soup, too. 🙂 I make Pork & Veggie miso soup (https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/tonjiru/) with all kinds of root vegetables, including lotus root. 🙂
OK! – Thanks for your help and advice. 🙂
You’re very welcome! 🙂
Hi Nami
I need help choosing Miso paste. I purchased what’s called Hatcho Miso, which was very thick and had (by itself, right out of the package) a very strange taste, almost black color and the consistency of tar. It is unpasteurized and supposed to be a very traditional miso in Japan.
The little packets of miso I get with my instant miso soup mix are very different – much thinner consistency and a yellow color. make excellent soup.
What brand of miso do you use, and what is a good internet source in the USA?
Thanks!
Hi Bill! Hatcho miso is fermented for a long time and it’s salty and not sweet like other lighter color miso. This miso is used for miso soup in Nagoya area, but not a common miso soup miso.
Most of miso used in packages are shiro miso (white miso) or awase miso (mixed miso – red and white miso). They are more mild and you’re familiar with the taste of this miso.
I love Hikari Miso brand and have been using for close to 10 years.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/miso/
I can find this brand at my local Japanese supermarket and an Asian grocery store.
Japanese grocery items can be purchased on line at the followings.
Amazon
http://www.marukaiestore.com/
http://store.mitsuwa.com/storefront.aspx
http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/
This looks wonderful. I only have firm tofu on hand. Could I use that?
Hi Kerry! Sure, it’s up to your preference. I like soft tofu for miso soup, but when I only have medium firm, I use it too. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I love love love miso soup and I so want to make this. What is the best type of dashi packet or powder to buy?
Tracy
Hi Tracy! I use these brands shown in the post (toward the end of post).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to/how-to-make-dashi-jiru/
I can get these from Japanese supermarkets around where I live. I’m not sure where you’re located, but you can try Amazon too.
Thank you so much for the recipe! I went to the Asian market down the street and got all the ingredients I need. I do have some questions however. Is it ok to make a big batch and save it in the fridge or does it have to be eaten that day? Also I do not have a miso strainer (or strainer small enough to fit in the pot) could I whisk in the miso or is the strainer imperative?
Hi Amber! Great to hear you found all the ingredients! Personally I won’t keep miso soup for more than 2 days. I make dashi and keep it for a week, but I always make fresh miso soup (it only takes a few minutes since I already have dashi ready to heat up). Miso soup is considered tasty when you make it fresh – but it may not be obvious if you don’t drink miso soup everyday. 🙂 So in that case, you can make a big pot, but try to finish it in 2-3 days with tofu in it (keep in the fridge and heat up). For the strainer, don’t worry! If you have a ladle, use a ladle instead. You basically don’t want to drop the miso directly into the pot as you can’t see if it has dissolved or not and you might add more miso… 🙂 Some people take out the dashi from the pot into a bowl and add miso to mix. But to me, it’s easier to use a ladle. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Nami, we’ve made your miso soup twice in the past three days:) First me and then my daughter… The taste was amazing and the soup was so easy to prepare. This will definitely be a recipe we’ll use again and again.
Hi Heather! So happy to hear you enjoyed the miso soup recipe! It’s easy enough that we drink everyday (with different ingredients) in Japan (when we serve Japanese food). Thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
Happy Holidays! Quick question, is there a dashi product or base I can buy without MSG…..When I go to markets lots of Japanese products have MSG and I get bad reaction from it…I’m seriously into short cuts when available…:)
Yes there are many kinds in Japan already but outside of Japan it can be hard to find. Japanese supermarkets carry no MSG brand but I haven’t seen any Asian markets carry no MSG dashi yet (especially if Japanese products are limited in the store). Have you tried on Amazon? I listed some MSG free dashi package in my Pantry page, I think.
I use MSG free dashi packet – if you find those they are the best short cut method without compromising the flavor. 🙂
Thanks…going to LAX tomorrow- perhaps Dec 26 I can find Dashi with out MSG…I’ll let you know..
Hi Nami,
I am thinking of introducing you’re recipe on miso soup for my 8 month old baby (sadly, she doesn’t take milk very well). Is there a lighter version for babies? And is 8 month a good time to introduce this?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Ginnyito! Miso is salty, so what we usually do is to scoop out small portion of the soup before adding miso for the family and make a lighter version in another pot for the baby. Or a lot of moms scoop up the upper area of the soup to serve for baby as well. Make sure your baby doesn’t have any allergic to soybeans. Or introduce the amount slowly in the beginning, just like how you introduce new food to the baby. I’m not a specialist so please consult with your pediatrician as well. 🙂
I’ve tried making several miso recipes at home, and they always taste very bland and boring. Not the case with your recipe! It was amazing! I’m trying to cut carbs, especially in the morning, ad think I might start having a bowl of miso soup for breakfast. What better way to start a day?
Hi Madeline! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my miso soup recipe! Miso soup is definitely a good start! Thank you for the kind feedback! 🙂
I lived in Japan for almost 4.5 years from 1989 to 1994. During this time i had an opportunity to savor great taste of Japanese food and tastes. Most of the times i remember of Miso soup and sticky rice (Gohan) and specially i recall taste of Khare-Rice which was very famous during our school time.
Since 1994, i have been looking for opportunities to come to Japan again however, time and opportunity has not favored me. I am reminded of how i used to love Miso soup and Khare-Rice when i was there in Tokyo.
Thank you for your time for this recipe. I am not sure if we find Dashi here in Nepal but i surely want to make one and try it myself.
Arigato Gojaimas.
Hi Niranjan! It’s nice to know that you had a wonderful time in Japan. I hope you will be able to visit Japan once again. Meanwhile, I hope my recipes will bring Japan closer to you. Thank you so much for writing! 🙂
Hi Nami! I love your blog. I learned a lot of Japanese cooking from my Mom, but after a summer in Japan last year (my first visit back in 18 years!), I have been dying to learn new dishes and recreate some of the ones I enjoyed last year. I’m so happy I found your page; I have gotten great use out of it, so thank you! Anyway, I looked at your miso recipe because I was curious which miso paste you use (same as my mom and me). Have you ever tried adding kabocha to your miso soup? I actually like it very much! It adds a little extra flavor and texture to make it a hearty soup (I did it on a whim because I had kabocha I needed to use). Let me know if you try it!
Hi Mariko! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m happy to hear you found my blog and I hope you enjoy my recipes.
My all time favorite miso paste is Hikari Miso.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/miso/
Unfortunately I haven’t uploaded the brand (type) of miso that I have been using for years in this page. I recently took renewed pictures of my pantry ingredients and I hope to update the page soon. The miso is imported from Japan, so I’m not sure about the English name…
Kabocha miso soup is a common miso soup in fall in Japan along with matsutake mushrooms and satsumaimo (sweet potatoes). 🙂 We have distinct seasons so we enjoy more seasonal ingredients. Oh have you tried kabocha miso soup cold? I make a little bit extra and keep in the fridge overnight. The next day I drink cold kabocha miso soup. SO delicious. I think it’s better than hot (IMHO). That applies to cabbage miso soup…. cold is better. 🙂 Thank you again for writing! xo
Hi Nami! Quick question:
I’ve been using the Marushima Dashinomoto (the only packets I could find that are MSG-free) to make our Misoshiru. The ingredients are glucose, salt, yeast extract, dried bonito powder, and soy sauce powder.
Is this equivalent to Iriko Dashi?
Would the taste of the soup be milder if I started using your kombu dashi homemade recipe instead?
Thanks so much for your help!
HI Leila! Is that all the ingredient?
If the package is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Marushima-elements-Katsuodashi-bags-boxed/dp/B0064ULVZS
The Japanese on the package says Kombu and Katsuo (bonito flakes) included.
The “dried bonito powder” means Katsuobushi. So what you have is actually Katsuo Dashi (if it doesn’t say Kombu).
If Katsuobushi and Kombu, then Awase Dashi.
And yes, you might taste less flavor if you were used to katsuobushi based dashi and just use kombu (more subtle).
Hope this helps!
I love miso soup, can’t wait to make this! I think you’re the first person I know who uses awase miso. I love it much better than white (because of the stronger flavour) and again, much better than red (because it has too much flavour; salty). Well, I can’t wait! I was just wondering, but have you ever added aburaage to the miso soup? I sometimes visit my friend who adds aburaage into the soup and I thought it tastes amazing! 🙂
Hi Megumi! I always use awase miso. Or if I don’t have it, I combine red and white by myself too. 🙂 Yes, aburaage + wakame + tofu is my favorite combination of miso soup. I will update this post with more information on what kind of ingredients we put in miso soup in January or so.
Sounds good! Thanks for putting out the recipe!
I’ve only found your site three days ago but have already made your kimchi chigae, oniguri, and this miso soup. So comforting, simple to make, and DELICIOUS! Thanks for all the future recipes I make too. ^.^
Aww thanks so much for trying my recipes already! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy them. 🙂
Hi! I just want to say I love your cookbook page! Today is obviously Valentine’s day and I’m so excited to make soba noodle soup for the first time! Wish me luck <3
Hi Joyce! Hope you enjoyed soba noodle soup. I’m happy to hear you enjoy my blog, and thanks so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
Is this soup ( miso) good as a base for…oh say fish and ,or shrimp? How about adding broccoli and other veg’s?
Hi Ric! We sometimes put seafood in miso soup and all kinds of vegetables! A lot of root vegetables such as turnips, daikon, carrot, potatoes, gobo (burdock root), lotus root, onion, etc and cabbage, eggplant, napa cabbage, spinach, etc… whatever you like! P.s. broccoli is not a common miso soup ingredient, but if you like, of course you can add. 🙂
I just made a bunch of your miso recipe (and some of the baked chicken katsu) for the first time, and I have to say: I’ve never been able to make a recipe taste just right the first time before. They both turned out great! I couldn’t find the awase dachi, so I used some benito dachi and mixed it with the konbu dachi and it turned out really nice. I also used the shiro miso paste because I’m not a fan of the taste of salt. The flavor is nice and light, which is exaactly what I was looking for.
I have a question about reheating the miso: I know you said it’s good for 2-3 days, but what method do you use to reheat it without ruining the miso flavor or breaking down the tofu?
I have another question about the wakane: I accidentally rehydrated too much. Is it ok to put it in the fridge and use it tomorrow?
Hi Cat! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my recipes and thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂 Here are my answers:
1) Reheating miso – you can reheat over stove just like how you reheat other types of soup. But just be careful not to “boil” the soup. When it’s hot enough, turn off. Only stir when you serve the soup, so you won’t be breaking the tofu.
2) Wakame – yes, you can save the rehydrated wakame for several days in the fridge, maybe 3 days. You can use wakame for salads too. Here are wakame recipes:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/?s=wakame
Thanks!
Can I add shiitake mushroom and add shiitake dashi to my fish dashi for my miso soup?
Hi Marie! Sure! 🙂
Thank you for your blog. I just discovered it and can’t wait to try your recipes! I hope I can find dashi packets in my supermarket, because I have a small kitchen and like really simple yet flavorful recipes, which is why I like your blog. From the ingredients, it looks like you’ve narrowed down recipes to be flavorful and easy. Thank you. A friend who is Japanese-American and a busy doctor may really like your blog, too.
Thank you for your kind comment, Alice! Hope you enjoy my recipes and if you have any question, feel free to leave a comment or email me. 🙂
I got all the ingredients better start cracking on these ones
Ah~ those red serving bowls look gorgeous!
I think you mentioned on another article that there’s also DASHI miso paste. That’s the one I use (HIKARI miso brand) as dried konbu is rather expensive in my country! I like red miso because it is just the right intensity for me 🙂 I love how the miso can bring out all the flavors together!
Hi Carrie! Thank you, I got them in Takayama when we were traveling last summer. That’s a great idea for those who can’t get dashi ingredients. I rarely have red miso in my fridge. Miso is really up to people’s preference. 🙂
Awase Dashi, Iriko Dashi, and Ise Shoyu Sauce are permanent items in my pantry. Because we use these ingredients day-in and day-out, I make a gallon at a time of each of these sauces. Having these essential ingredients in the pantry, I save time.
For the miso soup, I use Hatcho Miso (100% soy bean) imported from Japan. The thick, dark, and rich miso coupled with homemade dashi, makes the soup that much richer and flavorful. It is well worth that extra effort.
We also add wakame strips to the miso soup. The wakame make the soup richer and robust. I use wakame that was harvested in Hokkaido, Japan. The cold waters and ocean currents in Northen Japan, makes the seafood of the region very rich.
I like that you have “Kodawari” – you don’t compromise specific things you enjoy. I rarely use hatcho miso except for dengaku miso or Miso Katsu. Wow you enjoy hatcho miso soup! It’s very interesting how people prefer different types of miso. 🙂
Have you considered selling a printed version of your book JOC? I ask because I like to write notes on the margins of cookbooks; and I really hate having to use electronics (computer, ipad, etc.) when I cook because I’m really messy! Anyway, if you DO decide to sell a hard copy version, I’ll totally buy it!
Thank you for your interest in printed version of my ecookbook. At this time I don’t have the plan… Maybe one day I may be interested in writing a cookbook.
Hello! Thank you for the video! I know you said that dashi can last up to 1 week in the fridge, but is it possible to freeze dashi? Into blocks maybe, like with other soup stocks? Thanks!
Hi Riah! Yes, you can freeze dashi in ice cubes for 3-4 weeks too. It will start to lose some fragrance so no more than a month. 🙂
Hi Nami! Thank you so much!
Really great tutorial! Especially the dashi discussion. I use the packets — rarely make it from scratch. I really need to, don’t I? 🙂
hi just one cook book have you miso tradional japese fish soup recipes
Hi John, I think I responded to your question in FB, but my only fish soup recipe is Sanpeijiru (Salmon Miso Soup):
https://www.justonecookbook.com/sanpeijiru/
At a hotel in Tokyo, one topping they had for their miso soup were these dried curls. I think they were some type of gluten. When they got hot, they were almost like noodles. Do you know what these are?
Hi Patrick! Yes, it’s called Fu (麩). There are many shapes. I only have a picture of round ball one here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/fu-wheat-gluten/
Thank you!!!
One of my most favourite ingredients to miso soup are cherry tomatoes! Usually I use cabbage, or radish or mushrooms( shiitake/shimeji) sometimes I even use high percentage meat wiener or tofu. But cherry tomatoes are must! It tastes so refreshing and rich. It changes everything and turns your regular miso soup to extraordinary one! 🙂
Hi Angelika! That is the first time I hear to add tomatoes in miso soup, and now I’m VERY curious to give it a try! 🙂 I love cold miso soup, and tomatoes are in season during the summer (and they are sweet)…. I think it goes well with cold miso soup too…. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your lovely miso soup version!
Hey Nami,
let me know what do you think about it. 🙂 Perhaps, that´s just me who likes it and you will find it strange. Hope you´ll find it at least decent and worth a try.
Actually I´ve got inspired by anime. Don´t remember which one. From what I recalled main character was also shocked to see halved cherry tomatoes in it. I was like, okay, I have to try it, because tomatoes are my favourite veggies ever and I love how much their taste change after cooking.
Just came upon your recipe through the Yummly website. This meso soup looks delicious and I will definitely give it a try. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Lee! Thank you for visiting my site! I didn’t know any of my recipes appear on Yummly. Hope you enjoy making homemade miso soup! 🙂
I found the smoked flavor of the bonito flakes too overpowering.
Hi Chelsey! It depends on brands too, but overall you can reduce the amount of bonito flakes or simply omit to make kombu dashi for your miso soup.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-kombu-dashi-vegetarian-dashi/
Thanks so much for this lesson. This is not a recipe, but a lesson on Miso Soup. I have been watching a series about Japan and saw people drinking miso soup with all kinds of ingredients. I only knew the basic tofu one. Now I know how it’s made.
How do you make furikake from the leftovers from making dashi? That’s a very interesting idea.
Hi Leticia! So sorry for my late response. Here’s the recipe:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/homemade-furikake-rice-seasonings/
I remember visiting Japan and having clam miso soup. I’ve been craving it ever since! I really appreciate your website, really wonderful food! I would love to try out the other ingredients in miso you listed such as the various root vegetables. I was wondering if you could advise on which ingredients to put together (or list some common variations). Thank you!
Hi Nina! Happy to hear you enjoy clam miso soup! Hmm each family makes miso soup with combination… so there is no specific combination… how about starting one type of vegetable + tofu or deep fried tofu or wakame seaweed or mushrooms?
Hello Nami!
I’ve discovered your website and I’m amazed. I’ve always wanted to make japanese food, and with your detailed recipe I was finally able to. Here’s my first miso soup:
https://abload.de/img/20170819_160012l3b7g.jpg
It looked better than it tasted, I think this is because I used dashi powder. Next time I will try with selfmade dashi.
There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about though: Wakame is added to the miso soup while kombu makes for the stock. But our local asia market labels them both as seaweed. Then there’s a dozen different types of nori. This is just really confusing to a foreigner. Will you talk about the types of seaweed and their differences at some point?
Also, I will slowly but steadily introduce all of my family and friends to my miso soup and your blog.
Love, Elera
Hi Elera! It looks delicious! I see, I don’t really use dashi powder, but I can tell that it tastes maybe good for that moment but flavors don’t last long… I hope you will try homemade one or at least dashi packet if your local Japanese sells it (or Amazon sells it – I listed on my Shop page).
I agree about seaweed! It drives me crazy. It’s like calling all kinds of leafy vegetables “lettuce” etc. There are so many kinds of lettuce and not one kind! Same thing for seaweed… totally different texture and usage in cooking. One time some people used nori (seaweed) instead of wakame in miso soup. I mean you can, but it’s different…
Thanks for bringing it up. I’ll make a note for myself!
Thanks for introducing Japanese food to your family! xoxo
I would like to make Miso Soup but find it impossible to make unless I have recipe in front of me in the kitchen. Can you send me the recipe in my email – address below. I have terrible arthritis and have been told Miso Soup should help. Thank you.
Hi Sandy! You can print out by clicking the print button inside the recipe card. 🙂
Hope your arthritis will get better (I’m not familiar if Miso Soup helps arthritis).
How long will miso soup according to this recipe keep in the fridge without spoiling?
Hi Michele! Up to a year (or somethings even longer if you keep it nicely). 🙂
What grade of Miso do you personally prefer in a standard, lighter, day to day soup akin to that served in restaurants?
Hi M! I don’t particularly enjoy miso soup that is served in restaurants here (in the US). The miso I use for my day to day tastes much better… anyway, this is the brand I like.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/miso/ (2nd image)
Hi I have never made miso at home, I have a big intolerance to MSG and I am worried about making it. I have moved recently and have not able to locate a good Japanese grocery store just yet. After reading your post, I would be interested in using the the Dashi Packet (your choice #3). I am a little worried that I will not know how to use it. Can you please let me know how you would proceed with making the soup if one was to use the packet? Thanks so much!!
Hi Anca! Have you thought of making dashi from scratch? It’s the best way to avoid MSG (don’t use dashi powder). 🙂
Dashi packet I recommend is this Kayanoya brand (https://amzn.to/2looF4P) that’s MSG-free. Japanese grocery stores sell this brand, but you cannot find it in “Asian” grocery stores.
The method is written in this post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/how-to-make-dashi-jiru/
Hope this helps!
Hello, nami
In the place where I live they sell two brands of miso: hikari and a Brazilian brand
I do not really know how to buy since the hikari brand has the ingredients: Water, Soybeans, Rice, Salt, Alcohol and Koji Culture. And the Brazilian brand has: Soy, Rice and Salt; I have heard that the less ingredients have miso pasta, the better, however I do not know if I choose the Japanese brand (with more ingredients) or the Brazilian brand (less ingredients), what do you recommend?
Hi Ruth! You can’t make miso without koji culture, so I’m not sure if this Brazilian brand is listing entire ingredients… I highly recommend Hikari Miso brand miso because that’s what I use here in the U.S. with limited miso brands and I found it the best among them. But please note that there are so many varieity of brands and types of miso and it comes down to your preference. Some people love red miso but it’s not my favorite – I always like Koji miso. 🙂
Thanks for answering. These days I found that they also sell the marukome brand, between this brand and Hikari. Where I live, I only get miso blanco and miso rojo, but I like both, although I would like to find more options. What do you recommend?
Marukome: http://www.hipermarfish.com/importados-condimentos-y-especias?lightbox=image_bwb
Hikari: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRA607DvIxq2gkBSSXe3gNMA1E5PwzGGYCU1Q_ijW5N_2Ck5EzfDw
Hi Ruth! I like Hikari miso brand (MSG free too!), but I prefer white miso over red miso. 🙂
Bonjour,
I have not visited your site for a long time and I regret it. I’m not Japanese but I love the food you cook and the way you cook it.
I translated this first recipe, but I just started all over again because this last recipe answers all the questions I asked myself. Thank you for all your good advice and thanks to google for the translation 🙂
Michèle
Thanks for answering. A few days ago I also discovered that I get the misu Marukome pasta. Between Hikari and Marukome, what do you recommend?
Hello,
Sorry but I still do not know how to taste the different miso. For now I try to practice the different techniques with the ingredients that I find in Belgium.
Have a good day
Michèle
Really enjoy your recipes. You keep it simple, really easy and delicious.
Thank you Ronda! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my recipes. 🙂
Just wondering, can we give miso to a 7 month old baby? Thanks!
Hi Steph! I think it’s a bit too early. I just checked online and it said 9 months or older. 🙂 I recommend introducing small amount for baby and not the same as adult. It’s always better to introduce strong seasonings as baby/kid shouldn’t get used to strong taste. 🙂
What do you do with the kombu and the katsuobushi after you make the dashi, do you throw it away? or you make other preparations with it?
Hi Iñigo! I usually make Japanese rice seasoning called “Furikake”. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/homemade-furikake-rice-seasoning/
Thank you for sharing. I live in SF, and went to the Nijiya Market to pick up the suggested Dashi that you recommended. This will be my third time attempting to make miso soup. SO looking forward. Btw, your receipt is the best online I’ve stumbled across. Very well put together. Wish I had stumbled on your receipt for the very first time.
Hi Ruslan! Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement, and I’m glad to know you found your dashi too! Enjoy homemade miso soup with different ingredients. I have a couple of miso soup recipes here and hope you enjoy them. xo
Just wondering, how would this be cooked on a campout?
You mean at the camp ground? I think it is a great camping food. You will need one pot and gas stove (I would use portable gas stove like this one: https://amzn.to/2lV73un). Did I answer your question?
I love how well you break this down and include the variety of ingredients (and when to add) as well! I love miso soup and I have been looking for something to add to my breakfast routine. I have one question: does it keep well in the fridge and, if so, for how long? Are you able to freeze miso soup? I would like to be able to make a big batch ahead of time and reheat throughout the week as needed.
Hi Jen! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. It’s nice to wake up in the morning and enjoy hot miso soup… very comforting!
Miso soup in general is not recommended to keep for a long time. Miso’s flavor and fragrance won’t last long time. So here’s the solution.
If you want to make a lot and save, keep the soup with ingredients BEFORE adding miso. You can add miso after reheating the soup, right before serving.
You can save miso soup in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
You can freeze miso soup, but up to 2 weeks. But don’t freeze miso soup with potato or tofu as the texture will change. Again make sure not to let the miso soup boil.
Hope that helps!
Hi Nami,
This is my first time making dashi, and your instructions are super helpful.
Question: I only have the tuna shavings but no kombu on hand. Is it ok to make dashi using only the tuna shavings?
-Yuri
Hi Yuri! I’m glad to hear my recipe was helpful. 🙂
Yes, you can just use Katsuobushi (dried bonito flake). Your dashi is called Katsuo Dashi. 🙂
I just made miso soup with seaweed, green onion, potato, spinach, cabbage and bean sprouts alongside some baked Chicken Katsu. It was fantastic and tasted just like an authentic Japanese meal of the like I haven’t tasted since visiting Japan.
Hi Jordan! Your miso soup is so nutritious and I love it! Your meal sounds very homemade Japanese food. 🙂 Thank you for leaving your kind comment. So happy to hear you enjoyed your home cooked Japanese meal!
Hello Naomi-san,
I am appreciating your website as I live on a yacht in European waters. I and my husband cerebrate New Year with some Japanese food every year. Problems for me to make Japanese food is not to be able to get ingredients and cook complicated process on a small cooker. Your website is very detail and looks beautiful and delicious, it’s good for me to see when I want. Please keep working.
Hi Rika! Thank you so much for writing! You LIVE ON A YACHT!!!!!!!! Wow, what a fabulous life you are living! Sounds like a movie. 🙂 Very interesting, and thank you for sharing your story with us! I’ll do my best to make simple but authentic recipes…. 🙂
Thank you for such a quality website! I’ve always enjoyed Japanese food, but it’s really awesome to have such a quality single website and cookbook where I can depend on to make Japanese dishes!
Hi Nathan! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m really happy to hear that you enjoy it. Have fun cooking Japanese food at home! 🙂
Do you have to remove the head and tummy for the dried fish miso? As I’m not sure where to rip the tummy part. I’m afraid I will rip it all into no more parts for the soup.
Hi Elsa! Do you mean the baby anchovies? Yes, we usually remove head and guts. Guts are the black thing inside the tummy area. You’ll know it when you open it up. 🙂
I just made miso soup with wakame, tofu and green onion, and it came out great! It smelled kind of weird at first, but when the miso went in, it started smelling great!
I’m super proud of myself because the only ingredient in this recipe I’m familiar with is water
Hi Dev! Haha, I’m so happy to hear that you gave this recipe a try, knowing that water was the only ingredient you knew of. THANK YOU for trusting this recipe! I’m so glad you made your homemade miso soup!!! Dashi is umami-rich broth/stock, and it’s the key ingredient for the “authentic” Japanese taste in many recipes. It can’t be replaced with chicken or vegetable stock when you make authentic Japanese recipes, such as miso soup. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback, Dev!
Hi there, I noticed that the kombu dashi uses bonito flakes, however, my family is vegetarian so we don’t eat fish. Are there any vegetarian substitutes that you could suggest for bonito flakes?
Hi lo! Dashi has several variations and vegan/vegetarian-friendly dashi are kombu dashi and shiitake dashi. So you do not need to add katsuobushi. I just posted Vegan Miso Soup recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/vegan-miso-soup/ Hope you and your family enjoy!
Thank you for the recipe! Everything is very well explained and this is the most delicious Misso soup I have ever tried! Greetings! Ekaterina
Hi Ekaterina! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami! I made this today – it was my first time making miso soup. I only had spring onions, but even so, the finished soup looked and tasted so authentic that I was truly chuffed! (“chuffed” is a British slang expression that means “pleased”) : )
I used a dashi packet, making the process so straightforward that I wondered why it took me so long to get around to making this soup! Thank you so much for making this recipe so accessible and achievable for us ❤ : ) I in particular appreciated the tip about dissolving the miso in a ladle, as I’m sure I would otherwise have tipped it all right in, and then struggled to get it to dissolve…!
❤❤❤ Happy Valentine’s, Nami! ❤❤❤
Hi J2! Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! I’m so “chuffed” (hehe I used it too) to hear that you enjoyed making the miso soup using the dashi packet! I’m glad to hear my tip on dissolving miso in the ladle was helpful too! Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
Absolutely delicious. Thank you for making authentic Japanese cooking accessible to everyone, no dumbing down! This is going to be a go-to low carb, high-pleasure lunch for me. Many thanks for your website!
Hi LRG! Thank you so much for your kind words! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’ve been lurking for a bit now but this is my first comment. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your site. Your posts are so informative (without being overwhelming due to your use of headings, bullet, points, etc… ) and I really appreciate all the photos you share. I’m glad to have finally learned (from a different post on your blog) how to make vegetarian dashi. I look forward to making it for miso soup. Thank you for all you share.
Hi Beth! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m glad to hear my blog posts have been helpful. Enjoy making homemade miso soup! 🙂
Hi Nami! Do you think it would taste okay with some pork meat balls?
Hi Nicole! If you like it, sure, miso soup can include any ingredients you like. If the smell bothers you, you can add a tiny bit of sake to see if it helps (when you add meatballs and before adding miso paste). 🙂
Hello!
I would like to make miso soup andI would like to add Konjac since I lived this in my miso soup in Japan.
Would you qualify this as potato and thus add it before boiling?
Hi peanut! I’d suggest removing the smell first by cooking it first (https://www.justonecookbook.com/konjac-konnyaku/). After draining then add to miso soup. Remember, you can’t boil miso soup (with miso in it) so if you want to cook the konnyaku in dashi (soup stock) a bit longer, make sure not to add miso yet. 🙂
After I make miso soup (which I’m excited to do after reading your recipe!) how long does it last for? ex: for meal planning
Hi Julia! I’d say 2-3 days… 4 days is a bit stretching it. Miso can’t be “boiling” so when you reheat be careful. The fragrance and flavor will disappear as you reheat. So it’s best to add in miso right before we eat. But I know it’s not meal-prep friendly. For meal prep, consider making this way: https://www.justonecookbook.com/homemade-instant-miso-soup/ Hope that helps!
Hi Julia! I apologize for my late response. You can keep the miso soup for up to 2 days (after miso is added). You can make the soup first prior to adding miso because miso loses its taste and fragrance when you keep for a longer time. Hope that helps!
Thank you for your recipe and your detailed explanations! I love this as well as your dashi from scratch. I’ve been using Hikari white miso.
Hi Natasha! How have you been? I’m so glad you like Hikari miso too! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thank you so much for your inspiring and easy to follow recipes. We are lucky to have an Asian grocer nearby and have actually been shopping there for years to get vegetables, spices and curry pastes. Tonight is the third time I made your miso soup. Everyone in the family loves it. Your dashi recipe is simple yet so amazing. I have also used it to make ramen. Since nobody in our house is a fan of super fatty cuts of meat we do not use chashi pork as a topping. I make the karaage chicken instead. Amazing in ramen. Again, thank you for taking the time to educate us westerners.
Hi Kathrin! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad to hear you live near the Asian grocery store. And I like your ramen topping too! 🙂 Thank you for your kind words! xoxo