Miso Vegetable Soup

[zhemao]

Winter may soon be over, but there's still some time to make winter soups. I had some leftover ingredients from making ramen yesterday, so here's a hearty miso vegetable soup to warm your belly.

Ingredients:

• Bunapi mushroom


• Black tree-ear


• Potato


• Carrots


• Onions


• Ginger


• Scallions


• Kombu


• Miso paste


• Rice wine


• Soy sauce


• Sugar


• Sesame oil

Directions:

1. Soak the kombu in a pot of cold water for 30 min.


2. Turn the stove to high and bring the water to boil.


3. Once the water is boiling vigorously, turn it off and remove the kombu.


4. Place the tree-ear in cold water to reconstitute it. You will likely only use half of it.


5. Wash and peel a potato. Cut it into quarters lengthwise, then slice into finger-width pieces.


6. Wash and peel a carrot. Cut it in two at the point it begins to taper.


7. Cut the thicker section in half lengthwise and chop into finger-width half-moons. Cut the thin section into finger-width discs.


8. Peel and section off a quarter of an onion. Cut into long, thin slices.


9. Cut off and discard the base of the head of bunapi mushrooms. Break it in half and reserve one piece for later. Break the remaining part into individual pieces and give them a rinse.


10. Cut two slices of ginger and chop a scallion root


11. Place the potato into the kombu broth and bring back to boil on high heat.


12. Once it is boiling, there will be a lot of loose starch floating on top. Skim this off.


13. Add the carrots and onion.


14. Add a splash of rice wine.


15. Put two spoonfuls of miso paste into a ladle. Dip the ladle into the liquid and dissolve the paste inside the ladle. Then pour the dissolved miso into the pot and mix.


16. Turn the heat to medium and simmer for about 10 min.


17. Add the bunapi mushrooms, tree ear, and scallions.


18. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the veggies are fully cooked. You can check by testing the potato or onion to make sure they are fully soft.


19. Check the taste. If not salty enough, add some soy sauce. If not sweet enough, add some sugar.


20. Add a dash of sesame oil. This will add a nutty aromatic flavor and give it a bit of grease, since there wasn't any meat.


21. Take off the heat and let the soup sit, both to cool off a bit and for the flavor to soak into the veggies some more.


22. Once the soup has cooled enough so that you won't scald your mouth by drinking it, you can serve. The miso may have settled to the bottom, so make sure to give it a good stir first.

And there you have it. After you ladle the soup into the bowl, you can top with some shichimi powder, a sheet of nori, and/or some extra scallion leaves. It goes great with rice or noodles. Or you could just have it by itself, since there's potatoes in there to provide the carbs.

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