Week 5: Breakfast à la Daddy (Japanese Miso with a Korean Father's Twist)

Most days, breakfast consists of steelcut oatmeal (cooked up in a large batch once a week and then frozen in 1-cup containers for easy re-heating) and turkey sausages or some other kind of protein. But this morning I woke up to a house that was a chilly 63 F. Cold mornings like this require soup (which I mentioned in my Kalbi Tang post).

When I was a child, my mother, who was a registered nurse, worked the midnight shift and was usually not home in the mornings by the time we had to leave for school. My dad had done part of his military service in Korea as a cook and was more than up to the task of corraling us three girls, feeding us, and getting us out the door.

As I mentioned in my first Udon posting, my father would make giant bowls of vegetables and tofu floating in a savory broth for us in the mornings (along with noodles or rice). When I look back on those days, I'm not sure I fully appreciated his culinary skills nor his creativity. My father was (and still is) an avid gardener and had turned a large part of our backyard into a garden. Of course he didn't grow the stuff that my American friends ate (broccoli, corn, peas). There were all kinds of weird and pungent greens back there and most of them ended up in our breakfast bowls. My father is also the original pantry shopper - whatever vegetables happened to be in the refrigerator went into the pot as well.

Now that you know this little bit of my history, I suppose it is not so unusual that I scrounged around the three refrigerators and two freezers this morning for soup ideas. My search turned up some Japanese Miso (soybean paste), tofu, half an onion, a handful of spinach, and frozen mushrooms. I pulled out some dried anchovies and dried seaweed (kombu) from my pantry and I was set.

Most people are probably familiar with Japanese miso soup. It's the delicate broth that they serve in Japanese restaurants in tiny bowls, has little blocks of tofu and is usually sprinkled with tiny rings of sliced scallions. Korean people eat a similar soup, also made from a soybean paste called dwenjang, but our version of the soup is much heartier. It is served in large bowls or clay pots and is brimming over with vegetables. (I'm not a fan of dwenjang - the flavor is a bit strong for my taste - which is why I stock miso instead.)

As usual, I am happy to let other chefs/cooks write out recipes, instructions, and post pictures. If you'd like exact measurements for making this soup, check out my favorite Korean cooking blog for a recipe that is pretty darn close to how I make mine.

Here's my inexact method:

1. Put 2 cups of water into a small pot and heat.
2. Add a 2x2 inch block of dried seaweed and 4 or 5 large, dried anchovies and simmer for 5 minutes. You can start with any kind of broth or even just water. I just happened to be in the mood for a fishy flavor this morning.
3. Fish out the seaweed and anchovies and then stir in a tablespoon or so of miso paste. The amount depends on the saltiness of the paste and your taste preference.
4. Once it has dissolved and come back to a boil, drop in your vegetables, starting with those that take the longest to cook. Since I was using mostly quick cooking spinach and frozen mushrooms, I started with the onions.
5. Once the first round of vegetables are to the desired consistency (usually 5 minutes or so), add the quick cooking vegetables and tofu.
6. The soup is finished when the vegetables have reached the desired consistency and/or everything is heated through.
   

I like my soup to be spicy so I added a teaspoon of Kochoojang (Korean red pepper paste) at the end, which is why the soup in the bowl has a reddish tint to it. I also stirred in a cup of cooked rice.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• You can add pretty much any kind of vegetables you like, although mushrooms, onions, Korean radish, and a green leafy vegetable are traditional.
• If you have access to a good Japanese or Asian market (or you want to order online), there are all kinds of miso out there, each with unique and distinctive flavors. It's a super easy soup base and once you've tried making this once or twice, I'm sure you'll want to experiment extensively.

The Results
So yummy and it warms you from the inside out.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: 15 minutes
• Prognosis: A favorite!

My Shopping List Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.