Aside from seeing beautiful places, one of my favorite things about traveling is the food. Japan has impressed me so much—from its healthy food to its natural beauty and its people. The same thing with Korea. The recipe that I am sharing here today is a ‘fusion’ of my favorite Japanese and Korean soups. Super nutritious you will forget how it looks like. 😀 My kids love it. This is my own tweaked version, so if you dare try this one, thank you :D!

I love Japanese miso soup. It is usually served as a side dish in a Japanese meal. Meanwhile in Korea, miyeokguk is a popular birthday soup that is comprised of seaweed and beef bits quite similar to Japanese miso. In this recipe, both soups are combined into one delectable healthy meal, minus the beef and the dashi (fish stock). The authentic miso soup calls for bonito flakes (fish) and kombu (kelp). With this recipe, I use garlic and mushroom seasoning for the flavor. Of course, you may only use water or whatever stock you have at home. This is a hearty soup that can be enjoyed by vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.

Miso Tofu Seaweed Soup

Created by NewstartMom on July 5, 2016

Ingredients

1 oz dried seaweed (dried kelp/wakami)
1 pkg soft tofu, cut into cubes
1 tbsp. sesame oil
3 c water
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. miso paste
1 tsp. garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. mushroom seasoning (optional)

Instructions

Soak dried seaweed in a large bowl of water. It will soften, expand and rehydrate. After 5 minutes. Drain and wash it again. Squeeze out excess water, and cut into small bite size pieces. ***Don’t forget this step, otherwise your soup will taste too fishy. I learned the hard way.
In a soup pot, sauté seaweed in sesame oil for a couple of minutes.
Add garlic and soy sauce.
Pour water into the pot and add mushroom seasoning (if using).
When soup begins to boil, turn down to simmer and add the soft tofu.
Whisk miso paste in a small bowl with 1/4 cup water until it dissolves. Add miso into the pot and stir until combined.
Cook until it boils. Turn off heat.
Garnish with green onions.

Tada! This recipe can serve up to 4 people, unless you eat 2 bowls of this soup, like me. 😀

Happy eating,

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