Vegan Miso Soup

🍲 Why We Love This Recipe

• Vegan dashi: Dashi is a flavorful, umami-packed Japanese stock that's traditionally made using dried fish flakes. It's used as the base of miso soup and other broth soups in Japanese cuisine. Our vegan version has the same rich flavor, without the fish ingredients, thanks to kombu kelp.
• Surprisingly easy to make: Even with making your own homemade dashi (broth), this vegan miso soup comes together relatively quickly, so you can have a comforting bowl of soup in less than an hour.
• Versatile: Once you have your miso soup base prepared, you can customize by adding various ingredients, like tofu, mushrooms, green onion, bok choy and a variety of other vegetables.

🍄 Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this vegan miso soup:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Dried kombu (kelp): There are several ways to make traditional Japanese dashi, but most of them include kombu, an edible kelp that adds deep umami flavor. You can find it at some grocery stores (like Whole Foods), Asian markets or online. We don't suggest substituting with another variety of seaweed – the flavor just won't be the same. It's also meant to replace the flavor of bonito (fish) flakes, which are traditional in dashi, so it's an essential flavor for this vegan miso soup.
• Dried shiitake mushrooms: These also help replace fish flakes in our vegan dashi. Dried shiitake mushrooms, in particular, add an earthy, robust flavor and they're relatively easy to find at grocery stores. Why dry instead of fresh? Dried mushrooms have more intense, concentrated flavor, which is necessary for a deeply flavorful broth.
• Miso paste: the most important ingredient! You can use any kind of miso for miso soup, including red, yellow or white miso. We used yellow miso in our version. Generally, the darker the miso is, the saltier and more intense the flavor of the finished soup will be.
• Tofu: Medium firmness works well for miso soup, but you can also use firmer or even silken tofu.
• Choice of mushrooms: We opted for shiitake, but you could also use other varieties of wild mushrooms, including enoki, beech or oyster mushrooms. You can also leave them out for a simpler vegan miso soup.
• Soy sauce: Not a traditional ingredient in miso soup, but we find it helps add just a bit more of that umami punch that's missing from the lack of fish flakes. If you're gluten free, you can use tamari.
• Red pepper flakes: Completely optional and not traditional – but we like to add a little bit of heat to the finished broth.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

(1) To make dashi: add water, kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms to a large stock pot.

(2) Heat to a gentle simmer, then remove from heat, cover and let sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the kombu and dried mushrooms with a slotted spoon (or strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve).   

(3) Bring the dashi to a gentle simmer. In a small bowl, whisk together miso paste and ½ cup of warmed dashi and set aside.

(4) Add the miso/broth mixture, soy sauce, green onion, mushrooms and bok choy to dashi and let cook over low (don't boil) for 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables soften. 

(5) Add tofu and serve, or add tofu to each individual bowl and serve with the miso soup. 

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Optional add ins for vegan miso soup:
  • Daikon radish
  • Carrot
  • Other mushroom varieties like enoki, maitake, nameko, etc.
  • Spinach
  • Wakame seaweed
  • Cabbage or napa cabbage
  • Bean sprouts
• Don't boil the broth after you've added the miso paste: Miso will start to lose its flavor if boiled, so heat gently for best flavor.
• Don't overcook the dashi: If you let the dashi cook at high heat for too long, the kombu will over-infuse and may taste bitter. It's best to slowly steep the kombu at low heat, which is why we cover and remove from heat.
• Storage: Let the soup cool completely, then transfer to airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days, but best within 2-3 days.

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