In CaSe YoU MiSsEd It
We dropped an amazing video recapping the pop-up!! I’ve been told it’s better the 19th time you watch it, so don’t hold back.
I’m back behind my screen chomping on a Strawberry Hi-Chew like a horse, relishing the judgmental gaze on Pinky’s face. He’s perfectly nestled between my screens and giving me a look only cats can.
When I’m not working on pop-ups or indulging in every seed of an idea, I’m usually reading about Japanese food. It’s become a bit of an obsession actually. No one is complaining.
Today I’m peeling off a sliver of this onion: we’re going into the world of miso soup!!
You think it’s too simple. OKKkkkKk. You’re wrong.
How many foods can you point to that are soul-soothing, packed with a fascinating history, and are indefinitely remixable? Oh and can take as little as 10 minutes to make at home.
Crowd stares blankly at their screen while trying to think of foods that meet that criteria and inevitably fall short….
DPo opens up this can o’ crickets and drops digital mic.
Crowd wonders what they’re still doing here and also, what?
DPo pats your head says, “idk, but let’s enjoy the ride.”
Crowd feels reassured and ready to read about miso soup, but is somehow even more confused. They subscribe anyways.
Why Miso Soup, DPo?
Japanese food is deceivingly simple. I love that about it. It’s like if you put a Colleen Hoover book sleeve over The Alchemist. You think you’re just getting a feel good, but instead you gain a whole new meaning on life. Maybe a bit of a hyperbole, but you get my point??
Miso soup feels that way to me too.
On one hand it’s just 3 ingredients (*excluding toppings*): kombu (dried sea kelp), katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes), and miso.
But on the other hand, each ingredient has loads of artistry, tradition and just general wizardry packed into it. It’s fascinating.
Let’s start by going over each ingredient.
***Cue visuals for our cartoon-style-learners who prefer to learn with a dose of whatever this is:
Kombu (dried sea kelp)
We start our voyage under the sea.
Kombu is edible seaweed that is then dried. When you buy it, it’s sort of like a flat and sort of brittle piece of seaweed. It doesn’t look particularly appetizing, but I promise it’s a gamechanger.
The best way to think about kombu in miso soup is sort of like cold brew coffee. You want to steep it in water to extract the flavors. You can do this for as little as 10 minute or as long as 24 hours.
There are lots of types of kombu (22 varietes), all harvested from different regions of the world. I even snagged some from Mendocino, California recently! Below is a map of Hokkaido, Japan, showing the different types of kombu and where they’re harvested geographically:
The uses for Kombu in asian cuisine are infinite. In the case of miso soup, it’s the core part of the dashi (broth) where you add in the katsuobushi and miso. More on that in a bit.
Kombu is kinda sorta like MSG’s Dad:
But it’s totally natural and not really like MSG in many ways. Good hook though, amirite?
They both pack a ton of umami (that’s what you say to mom in Miami and also the fifth basic taste). We love umami. It can be your secret weapon and will give your dishes more depth and general savoriness.
When we use the word “umami,” what we’re actually talking about is glutamate.
Kind of confusing, right? Back in 1907, Kikunae Ikeda, a Japanese chemist was eating his go-to soup when he “suddenly stopped.” (Wikipedia). The soup was tastier than normal. It wasn’t more sweet, sour, bitter or more salty… it was something else….
But what was different in this soup? This time it was made with kombu (kelp)!!! This must be it, he says to himself. He takes his curiosities to the lab and investigates the kelp.
Turns out, kombu’s got the glutamate goodies. This is what created the unique taste that he then labeled as, “umami.” Today this is known as the 5th basic taste.
Soon after, Ikeda (same guy who had kelp-fueled-glumate-revelation) developed a method to create that same umami goodness in seasoning form. Enter Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).
MSG has gotten a bad rap in the United States for causing headaches, but there’s a lot of evidence that shows that most people are not affected by it. I could (and probably should) do an edition on MSG alone. There’s a lot to unpack in there.
I found a different version of this story on the Umami Information Center website, but the essence is the same. Let’s just say this is based on true events.
Kombu can be used far beyond miso soup!!
Gosh the list is very long and I personally haven’t tried them all, but the highlights include:
Using it for any other soup (duh). I do this all the time.
Adding it to sushi rice during the cooking process (umami packed rice - yum!!)
Using the spent kombu (post steep) and cutting it as a garnish over salads.
Make furikake (a rice seasoning) - you’ll need some katsuobushi too!
Check out the amazing just one cookbook site to learn more on allll things Kombu.
Katsuobushi (Shaved bonito flakes*)
*filleted, boiled, smoked, dried, fermented and then shaved
Next in our miso soup voyage is katsuobushi, or bonito flakes. It’s equally loved by humans and cats alike. How could you not? It sort of melts in your mouth and adds a nice smokiness and hint of fish to your pallet. Bonito flakes are a huge part of japanese cuisine as well - you can eat it as is like a topping, or add it to your kombu broth for miso soup!
A piece of katsuobushi takes 1.5 years to make!!
You right now, “whaaaaattttt????” Yep, it’s pretty nuts actually. For my can-we summarize-the-1.5-years-into-1-minute readers, here’s a visual of it:
You could play baseball with it!!
You right now again, “whaaaaattttt????”
Ok so apparently dried bonito holds the Guinness record for the world’s hardest food. I have yet to find the direct source on the Guinness site, but numerous cite this. Either way, this thing is STRONG. I watched a video of someone using the dried bonito as a hammer and then he turns it into a crazy sharp knife. Why? Idk. The internet.
I think it would make for a great addition to CLUE. Professor Plum was stabbed in the back by Miss Scarlet in the living room by a piece of dried bonito.
Kombu + Katsuobushi = Dashi
It’s important to weave in the concept of “dashi” at this point, because you’re going to hear it a lot. There’s no translation of dashi to English, but it’s basically a stock/broth that’s the base of miso soup (amongst many other soups).
In the case of miso soup, the most basic dashi that you’d use is through the combo of our 2 first ingredients: kombu and katsuobushi.
Miso (aka fermented soybeans)
The last of the three ingredients. As the name implies, we need the miso to take it from soup to miso soup!! Gosh, what can’t you do with miso??? It’s yet another umami bomb and is incredibly versatile. It’s also great for your gut (fermented stuff usually is).
We’re not going to get into making miso - we can leave that to Brad at It’s Alive and my future self. It takes a year to make and we don’t have that kind of time right now!
The basics of miso making are as follows:
Soybeans + salt + koji + time = Miso
There are several varietals of miso. Our friends at Just One Cookbook did the hard work of summarizing it all, but the TLDR is this: You can toggle the fermentation length, type of koji or amount of it to get a different result.
I keep it simple in my cooking and just use yellow miso from the Hikari brand. It’s gluten free and can be found at most Japanese stores. That’s also where I buy all the other ingredients for miso soup!
Koji??? Just a mini rabbit hole, I promise.
You don’t need Koji to make miso soup at home. But you do need it to make the actual miso (assuming you haven’t store bought it or just wanted to know how miso is made). It sort of kicks off the whole fermentation process.
Put simply, it’s rice or barley with a mold added to it (or innoculated for my sciencey readers). It’s got other uses too beyond miso!!
You right now, “Whaaaaaat???”
Koji is used in the production of soy sauce anddd sake!!! There are a lot of other use cases for Koji, including as a marinate, in baking or even as a condiment (kind of like MSG).
ALRIGHTY THEN, LET’S MAKE MISO SOUP AT HOME!
Now that you could basically do a guest lecture on everything about miso soup, let’s get into making it!! I’ll keep this part short. At some point this edition needs to end??
Option 1: The longer way which is still very fast
This method can take as little as 15 minutes or as long as 24 hours. I usually opt for 10 minutes because DADDY I WANT IT NOW. Totally up to you though.
I feel like it’s good to know about option 1 because then you’ll better understand how option 2 works. But I don’t judge. Skip me if you’re not vibing with it.
What you’ll need: Water, a pot, kombu, katsuobushi, miso and your toppings (tofu and scallions, for example)
How to make it: Kenji does an outstanding job (but what else is new). See his YouTube below ⤵️
Option 2: The shortcut way which I think is just as tasty and tends to be my go-to.
What you’ll need: Water, dashi packets, and miso
Dashi packets??? Yep, they exist! Remember how kombu + katsuobushi make dashi, well this is a tea version of it basically. Pretty neat!!
Kayanoya was recommended to me a couple of times and it’s been my go-to since. You can buy it a japanese store or even on Amazon. One day she’ll get affiliate $… one day..
How to make it: I’m terrible at following recipes and writing one out for something that I always eyeball is not in the cards for me today. So instead, here’s a little card you can use to make this at home based on my process:
So in summary: make miso soup at home and then give a short, but enlightening lecture to your friends and fam about it.
They’ll either hate you or love you for it. But either way they’ll enjoy the soup.
Wooooof that’s it for the miso soup edition - but I have another idea I’d love your input on!!
It would be fun to answer your questions next… I call it, “In your kitchen!!”
Work in progress title.
I love writing. I love hanging with you all. I don’t want either to change. In fact, I want to do more of both (if you’ll have me)!!!
Writing about all the rabbit holes I find myself going down is super fun, don’t get me wrong. But I also think it’d be fun to hear about all the food questions you’ve always been curious about.
I’d like to answer them!!!!
I’ll do my best to share back the learnings in back bite size pieces (think mini candy bars?? advice column (esq)???
Maybe you wanna know if you should salt your scrambled eggs before or after cooking them?
Maybe you wanna know what the difference is between non-stick and all other pans??’
Maybe you can’t ever clean a cast iron and at this point you’re inches away from quitting both that responsibility and your job?
Maybe you want recipe ideas for a family gathering? A couples night in? A vegan-centric afterparty for a bris?
Get it??????
I don’t know what questions you have, but I think it’d be fun to try and answer them on a more consistent basis.
I’m le nervous, but I think it will be fun. Indulge me with your questions!!! My ask is as follows:
reply back with your question. i’ll take it from there. also be nice.
the more detailed the better.
ideally send me a funny pic too.
with love,
Chef DPo
PS- sorry I didn’t include what I’m cooking. More on that sooon!
the handception image speaks 1M words