This easy and delicious miso soup is made with umami-rich kombu and shiitake dashi and then flavoured with awase miso paste and fragrant ginger. It's warming, comforting and vegan friendly!
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Miso Soup
What is miso soup?
Miso soup (miso shiru or 味噌汁 in Japanese) is a traditional Japanese soup made with a dashi stock and miso paste mixed in.
Miso soup varies from region to region within Japan. There are different kinds of miso pastes which create totally different flavours, and there are a whole variety of different ingredients you can add. It can be simple, it can be elaborate, there are so many variations!
Miso soup is usually served as a side dish. In Japan we have a set meal called "teishoku". Teishoku usually consists of a main dish of fish or meat, with a side of rice, miso soup and pickles.
Types of miso paste
There are three main types of miso paste and the one you choose will contribute greatly to the overall taste of your miso soup.
- Shiro miso (White miso - softer taste)
- Aka Miso (Red miso - rich taste)
- Awase Miso (Mix - best of both)
I come from Aichi prefecture in Japan which is famous for red miso, so I grew up mostly with miso soup made with red miso!
Miso paste for vegetarians / vegans
One thing to note is that many miso pastes from Japan are not vegetarian/vegan.
Often, fish stock (dashi) is added to enhance the flavour (especially in white and yellow miso) so check the ingredients carefully before you buy.
I used a Japanese brand Marukome's "Ryoutei no Aji" (taste of restaurant) miso paste. They have many to choose from so I chose an organic awase miso paste without dashi and no added ingredients, it's also gluten free. You can find it on Amazon here. (Affiliate link)
Dashi
Dashi is a Japanese soup stock and is an important ingredient for adding "umami" and depth of flavour to Japanese cooking. As I mentioned before, many dashi stocks contain fish.
However! There are also equally popular dashi stocks made from kombu (dried sea kelp) and dried shiitake mushrooms that are delicious and suitable for vegetarians/vegans too!
Dashi base
Here are the most common ingredients used to make dashi.
- Kombu (dried kelp)
- Katsuobushi (bonito flakes from skipjack tuna)
- Shiitake (dried shiitake mushrooms)
- Niboshi (dried sardines)
Because I want this miso soup to be enjoyed by everyone, I've included how to make a vegetarian/vegan mixed (awase) dashi using kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms.
Ingredients
For this recipe, I'm going to use:
- Vegan awase miso paste
- Homemade vegan dashi
- Spring onions
- Firm tofu
- Spring onion
- Shimeji mushrooms
- Fresh ginger
The fresh ginger really adds a beautiful fragrant taste and I really recommend not skipping this ingredient!
If you want to customize it more then other great additions to miso soup are wakame, fried tofu, okra etc.
Let's get started!
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Delicious Homemade Miso Soup with Ginger (vegan) 味噌汁
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 portions 1x
Description
How to make delicious miso soup with ginger (suitable for vegetarians and vegans)
Ingredients
Dashi
- 500ml (2 cups) cold water
- 1-2 sheets Kombu dried kelp (6g)
- 2 Dried shiitake mushrooms (4g)
Miso Soup
- 125g (4½oz) Firm Tofu
- 30g (1oz) Shimeji Mushrooms (or mushrooms of your choice)
- 30g (1oz) Spring Onion
- 20g (2 inch piece / 2 tbsp) Fresh Ginger
- 2 tbsp Vegan Awase Miso Paste
- 1 tbsp White Sesame Seeds (optional)
Instructions
Vegetarian / Vegan Awase Dashi
- In a pot, add 500ml (2 cups) cold water with 1-2 sheets of dried kelp kombu and 2 shiitake mushrooms.
- Put a lid on and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the kombu and shiitake have softened and released their flavour, remove them from the water and discard. (You can cut up the mushrooms and add them back to the soup later if you don't want to waste them.)
Miso soup
- Cut the spring onions into diagonal pieces and the tofu into cubes.
- Peel the skin off of the ginger using a spoon (it works better than a peeler!) and then cut into fine slices.
- Add the ginger, tofu, spring onion and mushroom to the dashi and turn on the heat to medium.
- Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat.
- Place 2 tbsp of miso paste onto a mesh spoon or ladel and let some of the dashi water in. Whisk the miso paste and water together before incorporating it into the rest of the soup.
- Serve as a side dish and enjoy!
Notes
Best eaten immediately.
For storage, keep for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Sides
- Method: Boil
- Cuisine: Japanese
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