Miso Soup, Winter Vegetables And Sesame Tofu

Vegan Recipes From Japan
Miso soup is a soup to have every day. It’s an essential part of the traditional Japanese breakfast and is served with a bowl of rice and pickled vegetables. It’s often served in hotels on a tray with a slice of grilled salmon. The different types of dashi are mostly available in the form of instant powders and granules in sachets. Together with an excellent miso paste, the other basic ingredient is water. It’s quick and simple.

The nice thing about miso soup in the morning is that it warms the stomach wonderfully. Buttered bread, on the other hand, has to come to the right temperature in the stomach first, and just for that to happen you need more energy, which actually comes from eating. With miso soup for breakfast, you’re already warmed up to face the cold of winter, which they also have in Japan. We were guided by this idea, although the dashi we use is home-made. The accompanying vegetables can be chosen freely according to availability, such as carrots, parsnips, leeks and celeriac. These all keep over the winter and are always available.

As is common in Japan, the intensity of the stocks, broths and soups increases in winter, and people like to use more robust miso pastes. We’ve taken note of this and use a miso paste made with whole soya beans and brown rice.

Tofu is also added to the soup as a classic garnish. However, here it’s quickly and easily coated in sesame seeds and briefly fried in oil until golden brown. We don’t add salt to the tofu, because, protected by the sesame seeds, it forms a soft and clear void in the richly flavoured miso soup. Fortified in this way, we can face the cold and dark winter days.

Serves 2