3/27 Moment of Zen: Miso Soup on the Go

It started as a last minute search for something to bring for lunch when there were no leftovers to be found. It was pretty cold out, and I was about wishing for a bowl of spicy instant ramen to bring along. Then the miso grabbed me and I wondered why I hadn't thought of it before. The students sniff at it, wondering if I'll make them some (no, but I'll put some extra water in the kettle for them if they bring their own soup base). It's easy (all it requires is access to very hot water & about 3 minutes prep time), nutritious, hot and satisfying. And it avoids the leaky soup problem I've had before bringing soup for lunch.

Here's how it comes together:

Materials:

• 2½-3 cup lidded plastic container which is sturdy enough to handle near-boiling water
OR
• Any small (~8 oz, like a yogurt cup) plastic container and a big heatsafe bowl to empty it into

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Tblsp white (shiro) miso
• 1-2 tsp shiitake mushroom powder (see note below)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4-1/2 tsp sesame oil (a little drizzle)
• ~1 oz tofu (~1/10 of a block), cut into 1/2" cubes (I like super firm tofu)
• 1 6" piece wakame, coarsely crumbled (the seaweed is also to taste - I've gotten really excited about the seaweed I've been getting so sometimes there's a lot)
• 1-2 2" pieces dulse, coarsely crumbled
• 1/4-1/3 boullion cube (any flavor), crumbled
• 1 teaspoon chili paste (or spicy of your choice to taste)

When you're ready to eat: Pour about 2-2½ cups scalding hot water over soup base in your heatsafe container, and mix until miso is dissolved. Mashing it against the side with a spoon helps. It's ready to eat as soon as it has reached a temperature that won't burn your mouth. If you blow on it in the spoon, this is probably right away.

About shiitake mushroom powder: No, I don't know where to buy it either. I throw coarsely broken up dried shiitakes in my spice grinder and buzz until it's a powder, then keep it on my spice rack. If you don't have a spice grinder (great use for a secondhand coffee grinder), you could also keep some finely chopped or broken mushrooms on hand for this purpose. If you're using shiitakes in this form, you might want to give your soup an extra minute to let these soak. This stuff makes almost anything taste better - and there's physiological evidence to back it up. Dried shiitakes are one of the best sources of natural glutamates - which do the flavor enhancing that MSG does but without the worrying extras present in the synthetic version. These "savory" flavors are often described using the Japanese loanword "umami," and are, broadly speaking, what make things like cheese and meat taste appealing. This also accounts for the "meatiness" of mushroom flavors.
Seaweed and soy are also big sources of this kind of flavor, incidentally.

Anyhow, science aside, since I started keeping shiitake powder, it's gone in close to every soup I've made, polenta, all over the place.

About the seaweed: I've been rediscovering seaweed since finally picking up some from my uke buddy and coworker Kacie, who spends her summers harvesting seaweed in Maine and sells them at She Sells Seaweed. I got through a number of finals weeks in college gnawing on wakame, though. There are far worse things to pensively chew than this.

About my Chili Sauce: I've been using my homemade chili sauce, which is a kicker made thick by the density of whole cayenne peppers, lightly flavored with salt, sugar, cumin and caraway.