Homemade Miso Soup from Scratch | Blue Zones Japan

Get ready to be mind blown. If you love Miso soup at restaurants, this will change your life forever. 

You can make it at home, easily! 

The only catch- you need some weird ingredients. Well, not totally weird, but ones you probably don't already have. Once you have them, though, it couldn't be more simple. 

Basic miso soup only requires 3 ingredients: 

1. Kombu seaweed

2. Bonito fish flakes

3. Miso paste

Once you have those, you can make several batches of miso soup, and freeze excess. 

So, what are the steps to making Miso Soup?

Miso soup starts with a homemade Dashi broth. 

Dashi broth is made by soaking kombu seaweed and bonito flakes in water, and then straining them out. 

Then, you add some miso paste into the dashi broth and whatever things you like in your soup like more seaweed, green onions, tofu. 

That's pretty much it. Soak some ingredients and then have this super flavorful umami broth. 

So, let's get started. I took pictures along the way to help you out. 

For just text recipe, scroll to bottom. 

add 2 T miso paste in and whisk

2 Steps to the most incredible at-home Miso Soup

Step 1: Make dashi brothStep 2: Add miso paste and vegetables to broth to make soup

Dashi Broth

Ingredients (Serves 2-3): 

• 1 ounce kelp (4-6” piece of kelp)
• 5 cups water
• ¾ cup dried bonito flakes

Directions: 

1. Soak kelp overnight in water in a bowl. 

2. The next day, throw out the water the kelp was soaking in, but keep the kelp seaweed. 

In a medium pot, combine the rehydrated kelp with 5 cups fresh water. Heat just until boiling. As soon as liquid boils strain the kelp out. Now you can toss the kelp, but keep that broth!!

3. In the same pot, add bonito flakes and bring liquid to a boil. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to simmer. And simmer for just 30 seconds. 

4. Remove from heat, let bonito flakes sink to the bottom, about 10 minutes. 

5. Then, strain broth into a bowl, removing all the bonito flakes. You can throw out the bonito flakes. Now your dashi should be a golden color and smell flavorful. You just made dashi broth!

Use broth immediately or store in fridge for up to one week. 

Not finished yet! Keep that Dashi broth to make the miso soup. 

Directions continue below. . .

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Simple Red Miso Soup with Spinach and Tofu

Cook time: 15 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

• 5 cups dashi broth
• 2 T red miso
• 1/3 lb. firm tofu, cubed
• 1 cup spinach 
• ½ cup chopped green onion

Directions: 

1. Heat dashi broth to low simmer.

2. Add all other ingredients to broth and whisk until miso dissolved. Then, simmer for 3 minutes. 

3. Serve with rice.