Hearty Soup Asian Style - Miso Soup It Is

The weather is finally feeling more like winter here in Southern California,
(Can't really complain much huh?)
What's better than a hearty soup that can warm up your tummy?
By the way, it'll only take less than 20 minutes to do so!

Ingredients (4 to 5 bowls)?

7 1/2 cups of hot water
1 1/3 cups of diced chicken
1 1/3 cups of diced soft tofu
2/3 cup of dried seaweed
1/5 cup of Japanese soup base (some soy sauce will do too)
2 tablespoons of red miso
2 tablespoons of white miso

Optional:
Eggs
Sesame seeds

How?

Have 7 1/2 cups of water in a soup pot, bring to a boil,
To fully dissolve the miso into the pot, simply mix in 2 kinds of miso gradually instead of dumping them all at once,
A whisk can be a wonderful helper here.

Once the miso are fully incorporated into the water, add the chicken and bring to a boil again,
Afterwards, add the tofu and dried seaweed flakes,
Here's a picture of the dried seaweed I used (looks like tea leaves) -

You can get it at any Asian grocery store,
The flakes open up easily once submerge in water,
You can quickly rinse it under running water for cleaning purpose.

Back to the soup,
Bring it to a boil again and turn to medium heat, let it simmer for a little longer,
Taste it and see how much soup base needs to be added,
My recipe uses 1/4, which can be a too salty for some people,
So I suggest just use a little bit at a time and see how it turns out,
Plus different miso brands come with different saltiness flavor,
In this case, I say just trust your taste buds ( > _.^)b

The soup is basically done,
You can sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds before serving,
Just adds more nutritional value that way.
To bring it to another level,
Have a small pot ready for poaching the eggs,
Semi-cooked eggs are unbelievably delicious with miso soup!

Side note:
Thanksgiving is coming up,
Are you ready for all the turkey goodness?

Cindy's Rating: 8