White Miso Soup Recipe

Miso soup is the most commonly eaten soup dish in Japan. It is made by simmering ingredients such as vegetables, seaweed, and tofu in dashi broth and then dissolving miso paste into the broth.

Miso is a fermented food made by adding salt and koji (malt) to grains such as soybeans, rice, and wheat. It was introduced from China about 1,200 years ago and has since been used in Japan as an everyday seasoning. Depending on the ingredients used to make miso, it can have a different flavor, color, and umami depending on where it’s made, what ingredients are used, and the production method.

Miso soup is mainly served as a home-cooked dish or as a side dish in Japanese restaurants. In fact, it is said that most Japanese consume miso soup every day! There are even instant miso soup varieties available in supermarkets and convenience stores that can be made simply with the addition of hot water.

Since there are so many different types of miso pastes available in Japan and an infinite amount of ingredients that pair well with the taste of miso, you can mix and match both the pastes and ingredients to find your favorite combination.

Throughout the next few recipe posts, we will be introducing different miso soup recipes.

Today, we will introduce a miso soup recipe using white miso, or shiro miso (白味噌). White miso is fermented for a shorter period of time, relative to other varieties of miso. It has a rich sweetness due to the large amount of rice malt included. White miso is commonly used and loved in prefectures such as Kyoto, Okayama, Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, and Kagawa.

Our recipe will include hearty root vegetables and chewy mochi, which pair lovely with the sweetness of white miso. We hope you'll enjoy our simple yet delicious recipe for white miso soup, and try making it at home!