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AI-generated photograph: Clear golden miso broth in a black lacquer bowl, small white cubes of silken tofu, dark green ribbons of wakame and thin rings of bright spring onion floating on top

Home · Recipes · Miso soup with tofu and wakame

East and South East Asian · Soups and starters

Miso soup with tofu and wakame

kombu and shiitake broth · silken tofu · wakame

AI-generated photograph

A clear, savoury Japanese broth made from kombu (dried kelp) and dried shiitake mushrooms, with soft tofu, silky wakame seaweed and miso stirred in at the end. Light, warming and fully plant based.

Contains: soya, as written. Contains soya, from the miso and the tofu. Some miso is made with barley or wheat (gluten), so check the label says gluten free. Kombu and wakame are seaweeds and contain none of the 14 allergens.

Ingredients

  • 10g dried kombu (dried kelp), about a 10cm square
  • 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 2 teaspoons dried wakame (a thin, leafy seaweed)
  • 200g silken or soft tofu, cut into 1cm cubes
  • 3 tablespoons white miso paste (choose one made only from rice and soya beans, with no barley)
  • 2 spring onions, thinly sliced

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Let's cook

  1. Make the broth, called dashi. Put the kombu and dried shiitake in a pan with 1 litre cold water. Leave them to soak for 10 minutes.
  2. Put the pan on a low to medium heat and warm it slowly for about 10 minutes. When small bubbles start to rise, just before it boils, lift out the kombu and throw it away. Boiled kombu turns slimy and bitter.
  3. Let the broth bubble gently for 5 minutes more to draw the flavour from the mushrooms. Lift out the shiitake, cut off and discard the tough stalks, slice the caps thinly and put them back in the pan.
  4. While the broth cooks, put the wakame in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. It swells to many times its size. Drain it well.
  5. Turn the heat down low. Slide in the tofu and warm it for 2 minutes, without stirring hard, so the cubes stay whole.
  6. Put the miso in a small bowl, add a ladle of the hot broth and whisk with a fork until smooth. Stir it back into the pan. From now on do not let the soup boil: boiling spoils the taste of miso.
  7. Add the wakame, taste and add a little more miso if you like it saltier. Ladle into warm bowls and scatter over the spring onion.

Tips

  • Miso, kombu and wakame are all salty, so the soup needs no extra salt.
  • Use a small amount of each: in a tasting menu, a small bowl of about 200ml is plenty.
  • Find kombu, wakame and miso in the world foods aisle or a Japanese grocer.

Swaps

  • Quicker broth: use 1 litre hot vegetable stock instead of the kombu and shiitake (check the label for celery and gluten).
  • Traditional broth: add a handful of bonito flakes (dried fish) with the kombu; it then contains fish and is not vegan.
  • Heartier: add a handful of sliced mushrooms or baby spinach with the tofu.

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Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

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