Miso soup (???, miso shiru?) is a traditional
Japanese soup consisting of a
stock called "
dashi" into which is mixed softened
miso paste. Although the suspension of miso paste into dashi is the only characteristic that actually defines miso soup, many other ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes as well as personal preference.
The choice of miso paste for the soup defines a great deal of its character and flavor. Most miso pastes can be categorized into red (akamiso), white (shiromiso), or black (kuromiso), with darker pastes having a heartier, saltier flavor. There are many variations within these themes, including regional variations, such as Sendai miso; pastes designed to be used with specific misoshiru ingredients, such as yasaimiso, a white miso for use with miso-vegetable soup; and seasonal variations.
The most common dashi soup stocks for miso soup are made of niboshi (dried baby sardines), kombu (dried kelp), katsuobushi (thin shavings of dried and smoked bonito, aka skipjack tuna), or hoshi-shiitake (dried shiitake mushrooms). The konbu can also be used in combination with katsuobushi or hoshi-shiitake. The kelp and/or shiitake dashi serve as a vegetarian soup stock. Outside of Japan, American or European style miso soup is sometimes made by dissolving miso in a western vegetable stock. The stock might include ingredients such as negi, carrot, potato and daikon radish. In some versions of the dish chicken stock, Western-style fish stock, and other non-dashi bases can even be used, but there is some debate over whether or not miso soups made using these non-traditional bases count as true misoshiru. Christian Japanese refugees who came to the Philippines during the Edo period brought along miso soup, which has become a staple of Philippine cuisine, but the Filipino recipe differs mainly by the inclusion of tamarind, which gives it a more sour taste than the original Japanese version.
According to Japanese custom, the solid ingredients are chosen to reflect the seasons and to provide contrasts of color, texture, and flavor. Thus negi and tofu, a strongly flavored ingredient mixed with a delicately flavored ingredient, are considered a good combination. Ingredients that float, like wakame seaweed, and ingredients that sink, like potatoes, are also good combinations. No two solid ingredients should have the same color, texture, or flavor. That way, all the ingredients will contribute uniquely to the soup. Ingredients range from mushrooms to potatoes, from seaweeds to onion, and from shrimp or fish to grated or sliced daikon. Nearly any Japanese ingredient can be and is added to some type of misoshiru. Typically, however, misoshiru does not contain very many ingredients beyond the stock and miso.
