White Miso Summer Soup with Wakame & Saffron

Method

• Soak the wakame for 15 minutes along with the saffron threads.
• Cut away any tough ribs from the wakame, and dice into small pieces.
• Bring the dashi stock to the boil, (or if using stock cube add this to four cups of hot water).
• Add the carrots, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu cubes and simmer for a few more minutes.
• Add the wakame, saffron threads and soaking water to the soup, simmer for 5 more minutes, then remove from the heat.
• Stir in the chopped chives.
• In a cup, thin the miso
• Leave the soup to sit for 5 minutes to allow the tofu to absorb the flavours.
• Garnish with some fresh coriander.

Dashi Stock

An essential ingredient in macrobiotic dishes and Japanese cuisine; an earthy flavoured stock made from kombu soaking water. It’s a great base for soups, stews, sauces, noodle broths and dips.  Usually dashi is seasoned to taste with a generous serving of shoyu (natural soy sauce). Often mirin is also added, plus a little juice squeezed from a piece of grated ginger root.

To prepare a basic dashi:

Soak a six inch piece of kombu and three dried shitake, or maitake, mushrooms in about 10 cups of water for at least 15 minutes.

Remove the mushroom, and thinly slice the caps.  Discard the root as it can be bitter tasting.

Return them to the water, bring it to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Remove the kombu and keep it to use for cooking, as a condiment, or with beans.