Vegetable Miso Soup

1. Gather all the ingredients.

1) To Make the Japanese Turnip Miso Soup

1. Cut off the ends of 1 Japanese turnip (kabu) and peel.
2. Cut the turnip in half and thinly slice the halves.
3. To remove the oil from ½ aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch), you can either pour boiling water over the tofu pouch in a sieve over the sink or have a quick blanch over the boiling water in a small pot for 15 seconds (flipping 1–2 times). Once that’s done, cut the aburaage in half widthwise, and cut thinly. Keep the other half for future use.
4. In a small saucepan, add 1½ cups water, the sliced turnip, and the aburaage.
5. Cover with the lid, but keep it slightly ajar to avoid boiling over. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, lower the heat to simmer and cook the turnip for 5–6 minutes, or until it’s transparent.
6. If you wish to add the turnip leaves into the soup, quickly chop the green leafy part of the turnip. Add some into the soup and save the remaining greens. At this stage, make sure the soup is hot and you’re about to serve miso soup. What to do with the rest of the chopped leaves? Read the Notes for a quick, delicious recipe.
7. Make sure the soup is hot as we will not reheat and turn off the heat. Add 2 Tbsp dashi-included miso into the ladle, NOT into the soup. Use a pair of chopsticks (or fork) to dissolve the miso completely in the ladle before releasing it into the soup.
8. ALWAYS taste the miso soup before adding more miso. Serve immediately. If you need to reheat the miso soup, make sure not to let it boil, once you see steam coming off, you can turn off the heat.

2) To Make the Bamboo Shoot & Wakame Miso Soup

1. Soak 1 Tbsp dried wakame seaweed in water for 5 minutes. Drain, squeeze water out, and set aside.
2. Cut 1 green onion/scallion thinly and set aside.
3. Cut ¼ boiled bamboo shoot into small bite-size thin pieces.
4. In a small saucepan, add 1½ cups water and the sliced bamboo shoots.
5. Cover with the lid, but keep it slightly ajar to avoid boiling over. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat.
6. Make sure the soup is hot at this stage as we will not reheat. Add 2 Tbsp dashi-included miso into the ladle, NOT into the soup. Use a pair of chopsticks (or fork) to dissolve the miso completely in the ladle before releasing it into the soup. ALWAYS taste the miso soup before adding more miso.
7. Serve immediately. If you need to reheat the miso soup, make sure not to let it boil, once you see steam coming off, you can turn off the heat.

3) To Make the Snap Pea Miso Soup

1. To remove the oil from ½ piece aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch), you can either pour boiling water over the tofu pouch in a sieve over the sink or have a quick blanch over the boiling water in a small pot for 15 seconds (flipping 1–2 times). Once that’s done, cut the aburaage in half widthwise, and cut thinly. Keep the other half for future use.
2. Pull off the tough string that runs along the length of each pod from 7 oz snap peas. Then cut in half diagonally.
3. In a small saucepan, add 1½ cups water and the aburaage. Place the lid, keeping it slightly ajar to avoid boiling over. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, and once boiling, lower the heat to simmer.
4. Add the snap peas and warm them for 2 minutes on a simmer (don’t overcook). Turn off the heat.
5. Make sure the soup is hot at this stage as we will not reheat. Add 2 Tbsp dashi-included miso into the ladle, NOT into the soup. Use a pair of chopsticks (or fork) to dissolve the miso completely in the ladle before releasing into the soup. ALWAYS taste the miso soup before adding more miso. Serve immediately. If you need to reheat the miso soup, make sure not to let it boil, once you see steam coming off, you can turn off the heat.

To Store

1. You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container (or in a pot) and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.