Easy Miso Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in miso soup? ›

Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup made primarily of miso paste, dashi (broth), and additional ingredients such as vegetables, seaweed, and tofu.

Miso soup is deceptively simple. It contains just a handful of ingredients: fermented bean paste (a.k.a. miso), vegetables, and hot water or stock. Heck, you don't even have to use tofu (although if you do, make sure it's the right kind; more on that in a moment).

Miso soup is low calorie, low fat, and high in nutrient content, so it is safe to eat daily. However, it does have a high salt content. So, those on blood thinning medication or who have heart problems (including high blood pressure and heart disease) may want to limit their consumption of miso soup.

If you are adding miso when it's boiling, you are doing it wrongly! Adding miso to boiling water will kill the probiotics, nixing health benefits that it provides.

Miso, a.k.a. fermented soybean paste, is made by combining just three simple ingredients—soybeans, salt, and koji (a type of fungus cultivated on rice and other grains)—and allowing the mixture to age for months or even years.

Rich in nutrients: Miso contains many healthy vitamins and minerals like vitamin K, manganese, zinc, protein and calcium. Many of these nutrients support essential structures like the bones and nervous system. Improves digestion: Because miso is high in probiotics, it helps the body maintain healthy bacteria levels.

The base of any great miso soup is its liquid component. In lieu of dashi, a homemade vegetable broth can be used. Not only does this serve as a dashi substitute, but it also adds a layer of flavor complexity while keeping the dish plant-based and accessible to those on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

In terms of health benefits, the darker and more strongly flavored miso varieties tend to be the most nutritious. Here are a few of the healthiest types of miso: Red Miso: Made with a higher percentage of soybeans and fermented for a longer period of time, red miso has a rich, complex flavor and a dark red-brown color.

Soy sauce is the most common substitute for miso paste. Miso is thick and creamy, whereas soy sauce is thin like water, but if texture isn't a factor, they are both made of soy and chock full of salty and savory notes.

Miso contains amino acids that can help boost the production of melatonin, a natural hormone that helpsmake you sleepy. Bananas: An excellent source of magnesium and potassium, which can help relax overstressed muscles. They also contain tryptophan, which convert to serotonin and melatonin.

Is miso soup good for bowels? ›

Eating fermented foods such as miso may improve digestion, reduce gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. Research suggests that the fungal strain found in miso may reduce the risk of inflammatory bowel disease as well.

Wealthy landowners, royalty or samurai would only eat rice miso that had been made using expensive polished white rice. It was often so expensive that it was used as gifts, or even as currency.

taste can be subjective though, possibly other ingredients giving off sourness, or you added miso too hot. Miso's microbes can take high heat but to have good flavor you may not want to add miso in boiling broth.

Avoid high heat when cooking with it, as it will kill off the good bacteria. When making miso soup, turn off the heat and dissolve (using a muddler like this will help avoid clumps).

While the ingredients in miso soup can vary widely, it is generally considered to be vegetarian-friendly. However, there are a few things to keep in mind if you're looking for a completely vegetarian miso soup. Miso paste is made from fermented soybeans, so it contains small amounts of dairy.

Its main ingredients are rice, barley, and a small quantity of soybeans. If more soybeans were added, the miso would be red or brown. Compared with red miso, white miso has a very short fermentation time. The taste is sweet, and the umami is soft or light (compared to red miso).

Dashi most commonly utilizes a combination of kombu (kelp seaweed) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), but other ingredients used to make dashi are shiitake mushrooms and niboshi (small dried fish). Dashi making has evolved over a long period of time.

One serving traditional (common) miso soup usually contains 1–2 g of salt. It is widely recognized that a high salt intake is often associated with increased blood pressure (BP) and risk of cardiovascular events and stroke [1, 2].