Miso is a fermented bean paste, generally made with soy beans. I found some made with garbanzo beans.
When combined with a dashi of kombu and shitake mushroom, you have a healthy and delicious WFPB broth for soup. You can add whatever vegetable combinations you like!
When I wrote the article for the Okinawa Blue Zone, I researched some Okinawa recipe books.
The Okinawa Diet had a recipe for Miso soup with Dandelion and Bok Choy. Well, I wanted to use ingredients I had on hand, so I changed it up a bit.
Harry loved this so much, I just had to write down the recipe.
What the heck is Mochi?
An ingredient in The Okinawa Diet book was something called Mochi. Never heard of it!
Mochi is a smooth, sticky rice ball made of sweet rice and generally steamed. They can be sweet or savory and be stuffed or have seasoning mixed in.
Although mochi sounded interesting and flavorful, it comes with a warning! They are not recommended for children or the elderly and should never be eaten while alone. Mochi is so dense and sticky they are considered a choking hazard.
Miso soup with mixed greens
Ingredients
- 1 4" X 4" piece Kombu (don't rinse)
- 4 Dried shitake mushrooms
- 1 Wedge Red miso About 2 tbsp
- 8 CUPS Water
- 1/4 Tub Extra firm tofu
- 4 Bok Choy leaves Bok choy varies greatly in size. You want about 1/2 cup cut stems and 1/2 cup cut leaves per serving.
- 1 Sweet white onion
- 4 Green onions
- 1 Large carrot
- 4 Inches Daikon radish
- 1/2 Cup Frozen peas Sub Snow peas or snap peas if available
- 1 Cup Spinach leaves
- 1/2 Cup nappa or green cabbage
- 1 Tsp Dried wakame seaweed
- 1-2 Fresh chili peppers Thai, fresno, serrano or 1 TSP pepper flakes
- 1/2 TSP Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1 TBSP Crushed Garlic
- 1 TBSP Ginger puree
- 1/4 TSP Black Pepper(Optional) To taste
- 8 Thai basil leaves Garnish - May sub globe basil or cilantro
- 1 TSP Thai Chili Powder Optional
Instructions
- Put 8 cups water into a sauce pan with the shitake mushrooms and kombu. Set saucepan on high heat until the water comes to a boil then reduce to medium heat. See note.
- Wash onion and remove skins. Slice into quarters then slice quarters crosswise in 1/4" slices.
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel carrots and slice broad thin strips. Set aside.
- Peel and thinly slice daikon radish. Set aside.
- Add white onion, carrot, and daikon to broth after broth has simmered for 15 minutes.
- Remove outer leaves from bok choy. Cut leaves away from stem. Slice stems into 1/4" slices. Chop greens into 1/4 slices. Keep leaves and stems separated.
- Wash spinach and herbs. Chop spinach into a bite sized chop. Add to bok choy greens.
- Rinse frozen peas and set aside.
- Open tofu and cut 1/2 tub into a 1/2" dice.
- Stack and roll basil leaves. Slice crosswise into 1 /4" slices to a chiffonade.
- Clean green onions. Slice diagonally and set aside for garnish.
- Remove stem and seeds from pepper. Slice into very thin slices. Set aside for garnish.
- Use scissors to cut wakame or crush with a can or back of a spoon. Add wakame to the broth when you remove the kombu and mushrooms (next instruction).
- 5 minutes before serving, remove the kombu and mushrooms from broth. Slice mushrooms in half then thinly slice. Cut kombu into 1" slices then cut thin strips. Add Kombu and mushrooms back to soup.
- Add the garlic and ginger to the broth.
- Dip out some broth into a bowl. Wisk in miso and stir until smooth. Add more broth if necessary.
- Add greens, peas, miso, sesame oil and tamari to the soup.
- After 5 minutes, divide soup between four bowls. Top with green onion, fresh herb and pepper slices. Serve hot and enjoy.
Notes
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe.
Dashi is easy to make. Double the recipe and save half for another meal. The broth is good for several weeks.
Bonito fish omitted, a WFPB dashi is a simple broth made of shitake mushrooms and kombu simmered in water. This is simmered for 1/2 hour. The flavor deepens the longer it cooks.
Add water to the broth if it has cooked down. You want about 2 cups of broth per bowl of soup.
However long you simmer the broth, just be aware the longer cooking vegetables can be added the last 10 - 15 minutes and tender greens the last 5. Miso should always be added the last few minutes of cooking time. 
