Miso Soup

[fitfool]

While my mom is an incredible cook, I sadly didn't learn as much about cooking as I could've from her since I didn't take much of an interest in food until after I had left home. So when I wander around the aisles in an Asian grocery, I'm mostly peering at the packages trying to remember if I've ever eaten them at home. Recently, on one such stroll

Comments

[mforbes321]

I know nothing about this at all but I wanted to tell you that I hope you feel better soon!

[fitfool]

Thanks...me too. I already had a bad cold just before Thanksgiving. Seems way too soon for round 2 already.

[fitfool]

wait...when you say you don't know anything about this, are you just talking about making miso soup? or have you never tasted miso soup before? If the latter, go try some! :)

[mforbes321]

I have tasted Miso soup before but until I read your post I could not have told you what was in it except for soy. That's all I knew. It IS good!

[dikubu]

I found that it was really the seaweed that added extra salt to the miso soup I made - which is a shame, since I love the texture of it!

[fitfool]

I have to blame the miso paste for at least part of it. The container says 1 serving has 740 mg (31% of daily value) of sodium. And I typically eat at least 2 servings of the miso soup whenever I make it. The seaweed doesn't taste that salty to me but after your comment, I looked at the label and found that it's pretty high in sodium too. However, I only use about 1 teaspoon of dried seaweed per bowl of miso and the package assumes a serving size to be 1/4 of a cup so I think the seaweed isn't as much to blame for the saltiness of my miso soup. :)

[jazzbird]

Sorry you're feeling under the weather. Hope you're feeling better soon!

I always forget about miso soup (and I've never been able to figure out the difference in all the pastes, either). When I lived in San Francisco there was a little cafe on my block that had great little cheap dinners. Perfect for the starving artist I was at the time. They never made any Asian food (it was run by a Korean couple), except for the soup of the day, which was always miso (all dinners came with soup or salad, followed by this fabulous cake for dessert). Whenever I was feeling a little under the weather, myself, I always opted for the soup. I miss that place- haven't been in years and years. When we once asked if they'd ever add any Korean food on the menu (was a an eclectic mix of standard American fare-- spaghetti, meatloaf, etc), the answer was "Korean food is too hard!".

[fitfool]

Oh don't say Korean food is too hard! I still hope to make kalbi and bulgogi some day! :)

[jazzbird]

I wouldn't worry. I took her answer to mean more "time consuming" than actually difficult. :)

[leenaujus]

what was the name of the place?

[jester5]

i love miso soup.

and you...have been missed.! =D

[fitfool]

Hey jester...I've been missing all of you in LJ-land too :)

[guitarcries]

The great thing about miso soup is that it's really adaptable, kinda like the chicken stock of the Japanese. You can experiment with adding all kinds of different things. I tried a vegetable one once that came out really well, just carrots and green peppers and green onions, and using inarizushi tofu instead of fresh. Yours looks yummy!

[fitfool]

Interesting...I've been sticking with the basic kind since that's the only kind I know but I do adore inarizushi so that might be a tempting variation to try out. I served the miso soup to one friend who said it was as good as any he'd had in a restaurant :)