[vloglady]

My SO and I went to Morimoto's restaurant in Philly. Twice. And twice my SO ordered the miso soup with clams. He was positively drooling! He raved, he ranted, he almost needed a cigarette afterwards.

Does anyone have a recipe for a fabulous miso soup? This one had a nice smokey flavor from the bonito flakes and about a half dozen or so clams seeped in the broth.

Any help greatly appreciated.

THansk

Susan

[vloglady]

any ideas?

[mudbug]

vloglady,

Just clams and bonito? No seaweed or tofu?

[vloglady]

I don't think there was much else in it. Just the clams, perhaps a half-dozen, opened. But the flavor is what had my SO rolling his eyes.

[mudbug]

vloglady,

You are most likely looking for Misoshiru, Japanese Miso Soup to which various ingredients can be added, much like various ingredients may be added to a basic chicken soup.

You can strain the scallions, wakame, and tofu out if you want it to resemble the dish your husband had. I'd still cook them in to impart flavor though.

Simply add the freshest clams you can find. Cooking time for the clams will depend on their size and how many you use...

Miso Soup "Misoshiru"

Ingredients:
1/4 - 1/2 package thinly sliced Tofu (silken or soft) - one centimeter dices
1 tablespoon Wakame flakes
2-4 cups dashi soup (basic soup stock) [recipe below]
2 tablespoons Miso (red miso)
1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions

1. Bring soup stock to a boil. Add Aka Miso and stir until dissolved and to taste.

2. Add Tofu, Wakame flakes and scallion to soup. Heat soup again over low heat for about 1/2 minutes. Stop heating before boiling.

3. Remove from heat and pour into soup bowls.



Dashi

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups water
1 T Bonito flakes
2 Kombu (kelp) 5 inch in length

1. Soak Kombu in water for one hour in large sauce pan.

2. Bring kombu-water to simmer over medium heat about 5 minutes. Remove kombu from water and discard just before full boil or Kombu will impart undesirable flavor.

3. Boil the Kombu-water, then add Bonito flakes. Boil 1 minute.

4. Turn off heat and let the kombu-water sit undisturbed for about 2 minutes or until the bonito flakes come down and stay at bottom.

5. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain kombu-water into a medium pot. Discard Bonito.

6. Serve immediately or store in fridge up to 3~4 days. Can freeze in ice trays for future use.


Enjoy! I hope it's a good starting point for you to try your hand...

[vloglady]

Hey, great, thanks. I will most certainly try this recipe.

Now how about those clams? I don't eat them, so I have no idea on what to do with them. Just steam them and add them to the broth?

[mudbug]

You're welcome.

For Misoshiru with Clams

Scrub and rinse 6-8 fresh clams (steamer clams if possible).

When broth (completed as above) is hot, add the clams and simmer until they begin to open.

The following ingredients are most commonly used when making Misoshiru with clams. Use what you like to taste. You can always strain them out if you don't want to eat them (but they'd be delicious!). Cooking with them will infuse the broth with a multitude of flavors:

Throw in a clove or two at the same time as the clams.
A cup of well packed fresh spinach added in the last couple of minutes before the clams open until they wilt.

Enjoy! And let us know how your husband likes it...

[vloglady]

This sounds fabulous, thanks so much. MY SO will have to come with me to the fish store for the steamers, I know nothing. He loves the steamers just steamed, he can eat a bushel of them.

Thanks again, this is going to be an experience!

Susan