Authentic Homemade Japanese Miso Soup | Sudachi Recipes (2024)

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Featured Comment:

“Soooo yummy, even when I cheated and used instant dashi stock!”

– danielle (from Pinterest)

What is Japanese Miso Soup?

Miso soup (味噌汁) is a traditional Japanese soup made with ingredients such as vegetables, tofu, seaweed, and shellfish which is then served in a thin dashi broth. The soup is flavored by dissolving miso paste (made with fermented soybeans) into the broth, creating a delicious soup rich in umami.

Miso soup has long been a part of the Japanese diet and is commonly served as a side rather than on its own. It is also a very convenient way to use vegetables and local ingredients.

The taste of the miso soup varies depending on the soup stock, the kind of miso paste you use, and the choice of vegetables and other ingredients you add, so it’s easy to drink miso soup every day without getting bored!

How I Developed This Recipe

When I set out to develop this miso soup recipe, my ambition was to create an authentic version that would resonate with the warmth and familiarity of a Japanese home kitchen. I wanted to craft a soup that I’d return to time and again.

To achieve this, I started with the typical ingredients that are the backbone of any classic miso soup and adhered to the traditional Japanese methods of preparation. However, I also introduced a slight twist, a subtle refinement to elevate the soup and make it the best possible version of itself.

This miso soup isn’t just a dish; it’s a comforting companion to any Japanese meal, meant to complement and enhance the flavors of your main dishes. I sincerely hope you enjoy the depth and authenticity it brings to your table.

Types of Miso Paste You Can Use

There are many kinds of miso in Japan, and which one you use to make miso soup depends entirely on your preference! Here are a few examples of types of miso in Japan:

• Rice miso (米味噌): Made from rice, soybeans, and salt.
• Barley miso (麦味噌): Made from wheat, soybeans, and salt, often seen in Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu regions.
• Soybean miso (豆味噌): Made from soybeans and salt, often seen in Chukyo region (which is where I’m from!).
• Mixed miso (調合味噌): A mixture of three or two types of rice miso, barley miso or soybean miso.

You can also categorize the type of miso by color too:

• White miso (白味噌) – light taste
• Red miso (赤味噌) – rich taste
• Mixed miso (合わせ味噌) – balanced taste

These are examples of the broad categories of miso in Japan. In reality, there are so many kinds from region to region. In the past, it was common for people to make their own miso at home too, so it even differed from family to family too.

I would recommend trying out lots of different types of miso paste to find your favorite type!

Awase Miso (Mixed Miso)

Awase miso is a mix of two or more types of miso. You can combine miso in many ways, like using different malts (rice, barley, or beans), colors (white, light, or red), regions, or saltiness, creating a new flavor by blending their unique characteristics.

Simply put, if you mix two or more miso pastes in your fridge, you’ve made your own unique awase miso. It has a mild taste without the strong features of just single type of miso, allowing you to enjoy the best of different origins, colors, and types, which makes awase miso a highly recommended choice for miso soup and cooking in general.

Red Miso

Red miso is another color-based classification of miso. Its darker color comes from the Maillard reaction that happens during production, where amino acids in soybeans react with sugar and turn brown. However, red miso is just a color term, and there are many types of red miso in Japan.

For example, hatcho miso, made from soybeans, is a traditional red miso from Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, where I am from. It has a dark reddish-brown color and a unique rich flavor, with moderate acidity, strong umami, and a bitter-sweet taste. For someone like me, who grew up in Okazaki, this miso is standard, but it might be too strange for others from different regions. In other words, people have very different tastes in miso, which makes miso a beautiful thing.

Another dark miso, called shinshu miso, is sometimes labeled as red miso. Despite the same color label, it tastes completely different from hatcho miso. If you want to experience some unique flavor, give them a try!

White Miso

White miso has a creamy color, like a mix of bright yellow and white. It’s the sweetest miso compared to red miso, with more rice malt, a shorter aging period and less salt. In other words, it’s less salty, so you’ll need to add more when making miso soup compared to red or awase miso.

Famous white misos include Fuchu Miso from Hiroshima, Sanuki Miso from Kagawa, and Saikyo Miso from Kyoto. If you’re interested in sweeter and milder miso, give white miso a try!

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Five Variation Ideas for the Perfect Bowl

Miso soup can be made with a wide variety of ingredients, and the combination varies from region to region, household to household, or even season to season in Japan. However, I highly recommend using local, in-season vegetables for your miso soup. No matter where you live in the world, using local vegetables is more “authentic” than trying to source Japanese ingredients, and it stays true to the soup’s spirit.

That said, here are five examples of ingredient combinations used in authentic miso soup.

Tofu, Aburaage and Wakame

This combo is my go-to favorite! The recipe cards and videos in this article feature it too. As for the tofu, you can use either silken or firm tofu, but I tend to opt for firm tofu which is less likely to break.

As for the wakame (seaweed), fresh wakame is best if available, but for convenience, I often use dried wakame. It expands in the soup so a little goes a long way.

Eggplant and Okra

This combo features okra and eggplant, known as “summer vegetables” in Japan. The eggplant soaks up lots of tasty miso broth, making it extra flavorful.

Plus, adding okra gives the soup a slightly sticky texture, setting this delicious summer veggie miso soup apart from the rest!

Hakusai (Napa Cabbage) and Aburaage

Now, let’s talk about winter vegetables in miso soup!

The flavor of Napa cabbage is amazing and pairs perfectly with the soup. If you can’t find Napa cabbage easily in your area, regular cabbage works too, or try adding some winter root vegetables too!

Kinoko (Mushrooms)

Mushroom fans, you’ve gotta try this! Miso soup and mushrooms are a match made in heaven, and you can use any kind you like!

I used classic shimeji, enoki, and shiitake mushrooms in Japan, but go ahead and experiment with local mushrooms from your area. I write more about all the mushrooms you can use in my mushroom miso soup recipe.

Potato, Onion and Snow Pea

You might be surprised, but adding potatoes to miso soup is popular in Japan! They taste great together and make the soup more filling. Don’t forget to add onions when using potatoes too. Tossing in some snap peas for some added color is a bonus too!

I’d say this combination goes well with white miso. If you don’t like potatoes, sweet potatoes work just as well.

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Visual Walkthrough & Tips

Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Authentic Japanese Miso Soup at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.

1. How to Make Homemade Dashi

Dashi is the base for all miso soups; without it, it would lack authentic flavor and depth. There are various options when it comes to making dashi for your miso soup:

• Instant dashi granules (mixed with hot water)
• Dashi packets (steeped in hot water)
• Use miso paste that contains dashi (mix into hot water)
• Make your own homemade dashi (recommended)

While instant dashi is quick and easy, homemade dashi brings your miso soup to another level and is a tip I always recommend. Although it might sound intimidating to make dashi from scratch, it can actually be pretty quick and easy to make. A basic awase dashi only requires 3 ingredients: water, kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (bonito flakes).

STEP

Soak the Kombu

Start by soaking the kombu in water for about 30 minutes (or until rehydrated). Since the wait is only 30 minutes, I do this in a cooking pot. Some people like to soak it for longer for a stronger taste (in this case, it’s better to use a container with a lid). It’s up to you how long you want to soak it, but 30 minutes is the minimum, and 24 hours is the maximum.

STEP

Heat the Kombu

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Once the kombu is rehydrated, transfer it to the stove and heat on medium until small bubbles start to appear around the edges. It should be almost boiling, but don’t let it fully boil at this point.

STEP

Add Bonito Flakes

Remove the kombu (you can discard or reuse it to make kombu tsukudani) and then bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and add the bonito flakes.

Leave the bonito flakes soaking in the hot water for about 5 minutes. It doesn’t need to be cooking, just keep the pan hot using the residual heat on the stove.

STEP

Strain

After 5 minutes, place a sieve lined with a sheet of kitchen paper over a heatproof bowl and pour the dashi through. This will catch all the tiny pieces of bonito flakes and leave you with a beautiful, clear and golden broth.

STEP

Complete

our final dashi should look something like this:

Once the dashi is complete, you can move on to making your miso soup!

2. How to Make Miso Soup

STEP

Prepare the Ingredients

Cut your choice of ingredients into small bitesize pieces. Miso soup is usually eaten with chopsticks, so you can eat the tofu and vegetables and then slurp the soup straight from the bowl.

For my recipe, I use firm tofu, aburaage (twice-fried tofu pouch), thinly sliced spring onions, and shiitake mushrooms. Feel free to customize your soup to suit your tastes!

STEP

Add the Ingredients to the Dashi

Transfer your dashi back into a pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once small bubbles start to appear, add your vegetables and tofu to the pot.

I purposely used ingredients with similar cooking times so that I could throw them all in at the same time. However, if you decide to add ingredients that need sufficient cooking time, like root vegetables such as carrots or potatoes or shellfish, be sure to add those first to give them time to cook all the way through.

On the other hand, soft ingredients like tofu only need to be warmed through and should be added just before the miso paste. Make sure to consider the timing when adding your ingredients to the soup.

STEP

Season

This is also optional, but I like to add a small amount of soy sauce to my miso soup for some extra depth and umami.

STEP

Add the Miso Paste

After ensuring that the pot’s ingredients are cooked, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and add the miso paste. Miso paste doesn’t actually dissolve; instead, it needs to be broken down to incorporate it into the soup.

Don’t add miso paste directly to the broth

If you add miso paste straight to the broth, it will be difficult to break up and there will be large lumps of miso in your soup. This can also make the overall taste of the soup weaker because the miso paste is not evenly distributed throughout the broth.

I recommend placing the miso paste on a fine mesh spoon and resting the spoon on the surface of the broth so that they come into contact with each other.

The hot broth will soften the paste, allowing you to whisk it while it’s still on the spoon, then it will seep into the broth through the mesh. This will thoroughly break up the paste and allow it evenly distributed throughout the broth.

If you don’t have a mesh spoon, you can also break up the miso paste by placing it in a small heatproof bowl or ladle and whisking it with a few tablespoons of broth. Once it’s smooth, simply pour it back into the pot.

Do not boil the miso

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After incorporating the miso, do not let it boil; try to avoid simmering for too long. If you boil the soup, the taste of the miso will begin to deteriorate, and the aroma will be lost.

It is said that miso soup is most fragrant when cooked slightly weaker than boiling; this is why I recommend setting the heat to the lowest before adding the miso paste. Miso soup tastes best at about 75°C (165°F).

If you need to reheat the soup, I recommend heating it over a medium setting and turning it off just before it boils.

STEP

Add the Tofu

Finally, add the ingredients that need to be warmed through (rather than properly cooked). In my case, this is tofu.

Simmer for a few minutes and then dish up!

STEP

Serve

Divide the soup into serving bowls and garnish with some fresh chopped green onion.

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How to Store

While miso paste is a fermented product that can be preserved for a long time, it is very easy to spoil once it is made into soup and combined with other ingredients. If you must store leftover miso soup, avoid leaving it out too long. If you have no choice but to store it, cool it slightly and then transfer it to the refrigerator.

You should try to eat it as quickly as possible. I don’t recommend keeping it for more than 24 hours. Freezing is not recommended since the flavor will deteriorate.

Ideally, most Japanese families make miso soup in the morning and try to use it up before the end of the day. For example, make it for breakfast or lunch, then have it again with your evening meal.

On the other hand, dashi can be kept in the fridge for 5-7 days or up to 1 month in the freezer. If you have dashi, you can whip up miso soup in less than 10 minutes. If you want to make miso soup regularly throughout the week, I recommend making a batch of homemade dashi for convenience!

FAQ

I hope you enjoy this Authentic Japanese Miso Soup recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers.Thank you!