Miso Soup

Miso is a fermented soybean paste used to flavour various dishes, but most widely used as a stock to season soups. Miso has been used for centuries in the Orient as a remedy for cancer, weak digestion, low libido, several types of intestinal infections, lowering cholesterol and so much more. It is one of the world’s most medicinal foods.

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Ingredients

5 inch piece of Kombu (seaweed) [13cm]
2 dried shitake or maitake mushrooms
6 inch piece of wakame (seaweed) [15cm]
1 onion finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
1 celery stick finely diced
Spring or filtered water
1 tsp miso per cup of soup
Fresh grated ginger juice (1Tbsp) added at the end of cooking
Spring onions finely diced for garnish

Method

Soak the Kombu and dried mushrooms in 6 cups of filtered water for 30 minutes.
Remove the mushrooms, dice them (discarding the stem as it can be bitter tasting) and place back in the pot.
Bring the stock to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes (This stock is called DASHI in Japan and is the base for many noodle dishes, stews, sauces as well as soups.)
Soak the wakame for 10 minutes and then cut into small pieces with kitchen scissors.
Add the wakame and the soaking water to the pot, along with the vegetables and simmer for 20 minutes.
Whisk miso with a little of the broth and then add to the soup and switch off the heat.
Do not allow the miso to boil or it will destroy the enzymes.
Serve hot with finely chopped spring onions to garnish. You can add cubed tofu or soba noodles to make the soup more of a meal.

Variations: You may add some diced garlic or ginger juice (squeezed from grated ginger) to your miso soup for a different taste. Add any leftover cooked grains such as millet, short grain brown rice or quinoa to your soup and make it more of a lunch or meal. You can place a small piece of lemon in the bottom of each bowl and then pour in the soup. This aids in liver cleansing and adds vitamin C.