Recently I asked if you would be interested in some recipes that aren’t so much pretty, cute and sweet but healthy and delicious and as I’ve had a positive response, I thought I would start with something simple, nutritious and vegetarian.
I’ve always loved japanese food, I was first introduced to it in primary school by a friend of our family who is a japanese teacher and she used to prepare us yummy food whenever we went to visit. I like it because it’s very good for you, it tastes fantastic, is visually pleasing and it always sits well in my stomach and leaves me feeling good afterwards. Over the past couple of years I’ve been teaching myself different recipes and cooking methods and it has been a lot of fun, I’ve had failures and successes and its given me a love for cooking that I never quite achieved for western style food.
For some reason, people get this idea that cooking japanese is hard. Some of it is, I hardly ever make sushi because its tricky to get it right and bought sushi almost always tastes better. Average homestyle japanese is actually very easy though, a good example of this is Miso shiru (Miso Soup). This is basically how I make Miso;
1. Place one teaspoon of miso paste in a small bowl.
2. Dissolve it with a little water
3. Fill up the rest of the bowl with boiled water.
Yes, thats it, its as simple as making tea! Traditionally Miso is dissolved in Dashi, a type of japanese stock made from bonito flakes and konbu seaweed, however you can buy a product called Dashi Miso which has the dashi already combined, it makes life easier and I think it tastes just as good. However, if you want to use real dashi you can find a recipe here
Obviously this is only the soup base, so here’s where you get to have a bit of fun adding whatever ingredients you like best. Here is a short list, but you can put nearly any japanese ingredient in Miso soup.
Wakame seaweed
Tofu
Shiitake Mushrooms
Spring onions
Leek
Seafood (often Clam)
Aburaage
If the ingredients require cooking, prepare them beforehand by boiling them in dashi. I’m a bit lazy though and tend to just use easy to add ingredients, I especially love shiitake mushrooms in mine because I find it compliments the flavour of the miso and dried sliced shiitake can be dropped in before you add the water/dashi because the soup will rehydrate them.
Miso is a product made from fermented soy, which has a huge list of health benefits including decreasing the risk of breast cancer and boosting the immune system as it contains zinc. Personally, I find it a great ‘pick me up’ that gives me a bit of energy and is relaxing and de-stressing at the same time.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
A very interesting read! I myself am, sadly enough, not very enthusiastic about Japanese food. It looks pretty and surely tastes pretty, but the latter - not to me. (I don’t eat fish or seafood, nor do I eat mushrooms. And things that have anything in it that comes from the sea or rivers are just used too generously in Japanese cuisine to me.)
Still, I love the Japanese way of always making food look the best it can, of presenting it as a piece of art. I always strive to achieve that with my own cooking!
May 16th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
This is great, thank you!
I’ve never eaten Tofu ^^; but I always wanted to try it…
Aah, I love to cook (and eat, I guess)
I shall try this next week and my family will be doomed to act as guinea pigs XD
May 17th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Mmm…miso is delicious! It’s also one of the few Japanese foods I can get my husband to eat, because he hates white rice.
A tip if you’re adding tofu and haven’t tried it before: cut it into very small cubes. It’s a very delicate food and I personally love the texture, but in large pieces, if it isn’t properly marinated, it can be a little bland.
I always thought, because my recipe books all have recipes for miso that involve making your own dashi first, that miso would be very complicated to make! But I’ll keep an eye out for Dashi Miso…that sounds so much easier.
May 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Thank you for the recipe! ♥ When I first tried Miso Soup I hated it, but over time I’ve grown to really love it! It’s nice to have for breakfast, along with some rice. ^^
May 17th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
That looks really tastey. I think I should try it.
May 18th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Thanks for the recipe, Princess. :D
I recently read an article about the areas where people lived longest, and it’s mostly small island countries where people eat mostly fish, and little red meat. I think Japan may have been on the list, and I wouldn’t be surprised. Japanese food is really healthy c:
May 18th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Thank you very much, your highness! ^A^
I suck at cooking, but I’ll try to make some with my nanny/grandma/mom. Japanese food can be really healthy, as Princess Muffin said! Hey… is it intentional that one of the veggies is star-shaped? I think it looks cute and you took an awesome picture. I love Miso! I tried it at a restaurant after I got a little dizzy because of some medical exams and I adored it! I was feeling sick so I couldn’t finish it, but hopefully I’m going where the restaurant is located when I go on vacations and will try it again! ^A^
May 18th, 2008 at 2:27 pm