(Image credit: Emma Christensen) Say hello to your newest cold-weather best friend! Miso soup is that salty, savory broth, dotted with green scallions and silky tofu, served at most Japanese restaurants before the sushi trays arrive. Making it at home is one of the simplest and most satisfying ways to treat yourself during the frigid winter months. Here's how to make miso soup in just a few easy steps. (Image credit: Emma Christensen) That elusive flavor that you can't quite name? The one that makes you crave sip after sip? Japanese dashi is a very simple broth made from kombu, a dried seaweed, and dried bonito fish flakes. The kombu and the bonito are rich with umami and give this simple soup an extra layer of savory flavor. → Vegetarian Tip: If you're vegetarian, use the kombu in your dashi, but skip the bonito flakes. Making dashi takes just a few minutes — a bit of extra time that's totally worth it for the trade off in flavor. When making it, be sure to remove the kombu before the water comes to a boil;

boiling the kombu can give the broth a bitter flavor and slimy texture. where to buy sushi grade uniYou can also make the dashi ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to a week or so. jiro dreams of sushi bande annonce(It also freezes beautifully.)jiro dreams of sushi bande annonce Miso is obviously the central ingredient to making miso soup. sushi tei jakarta selatanIt is a fermented paste that's usually made from soybeans, but can also be made from brown rice, barley, and many other grains and legumes. juegos online hacer sushi

It has a deeply savory, salty flavor — very intense on its own, but perfect when mixed into a little hot dashi.juegos online hacer sushi For restaurant-style miso, use red miso made from soybeans. fish for sushi gradeIf you like that flavor, try branching out into white miso (milder and sweeter), yellow miso (earthy-flavored), or any other kind of miso you find and feel like trying! Happily, in the past few years, ingredients like miso, kombu, and bonito flakes have become much more available. An Asian grocery store is always your best bet for the freshest and best variety of ingredients. Whole Foods stores also carry a few varieties of miso and usually stock kombu and bonito flakes. Also look in the "international" section of your local grocery store — you might be surprised what they carry! If you're having trouble finding ingredients, you can always find them online.

Online Sources for Miso Soup Ingredients How To Make Miso Soup For the dashi (or substitute 2 cups water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth): 2-inch piece kombu (dried black kelp) 1/2 cup loosely packed dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi), optional For the miso soup: 4 ounces (1/4 block) silken or firm tofu 1 to 2 scallions 2 tablespoons red or white miso paste Measuring cups and spoons 1-quart (or larger) saucepan Whisk or dinner fork Make the dashi: (See step-by-step instructions: How To Make Dashi): Combine the water and kombu in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Remove the kombu just as the water starts to come to a boil. Add the bonito flakes, if using, and let the water come to a rapid simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute, then remove the pan from heat and let the bonito steep for an additional 5 minutes. Strain the bonito from the dashi. Add additional water if necessary to make 2 cups. Alternatively, substitute 2 cups water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth.

Prepare the tofu and scallions: Cut the tofu into very small cubes, 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch on each side. Slice the scallions very thinly. Bring the broth to a rapid simmer: Pour the dashi or broth back into the saucepan and bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat. Mix the miso with 1/2 cup hot broth: Place the miso in a small ramekin or measuring cup. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the broth and pour it over the miso. Whisk with a dinner fork or whisk until the miso is entirely dissolved in the water and no lumps remain. Pour the miso into the broth: Pour the dissolved miso into the simmering broth. Add the tofu: Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the tofu to the miso. Simmer just enough to warm the tofu, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not boil the miso once the tofu has been added. Add the scallions: Just before serving, scatter the scallions over the top of the soup. Serve in individual bowls: Pour the miso into individual bowls and serve. Miso is best when served fresh.

It will settle a bit as it sits in the broth; whisk briefly with chopsticks or a spoon to mix the soup again. Any type of miso can be used to make miso soup. Restaurants typically use red miso to make their miso soup. This post has been updated. Originally published October 2006. Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home? See more How To posts We're looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too! Submit your own tutorials or ideas here!By , published on To rinse or not to rinse: There are so many opinions and types of rice, the answer is daunting. Here, we break it down for you. Because like the answers to life's most lofty questions, there is no easy single answer. Some people believe that not rinsing yields rice with a sticky texture. Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, is in this camp: “An initial rinsing of the dry rice removes surface starch and thus a source of added stickiness.” For most long-grain and medium-grain rice, then, rinsing is a good idea.

But if you’re using short-grain white rice to make a risotto, no rinsing is necessary—the extra starch creates the essential creamy texture. When white rice is milled, the outer husk and bran layers are removed to produce translucent grains, but this also removes some vitamins and nutrients. To make milled white rice healthier, the United States requires processors to enrich it with vitamins and other nutrients, which appear as a dusty layer on the individual grains. If you want to also preserve those nutrients, washing is a no-no. There was a time when all white rice was processed with talc, a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate (sounds tasty, right?) to give it a whiter, cleaner appearance. Back then, rice needed a rinse to remove this talc. Most white rice grown in the U.S. is no longer milled that way, but some imported rices have been processed with talc, powdered glucose, or rice powder (all safe to eat, but still). Because of this, Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann, authors of The Ultimate Rice Cooker Book, suggest leaving domestic rice as is, but rinsing imported rice (like jasmine and basmati) to improve the flavor and avoid the rice turning gluey.

Most other recipes for Asian rice don’t call for rinsing, since a certain amount of stickiness is a good thing. Rather, they have you soak the rice before cooking. It’s important to note that soaking rice is completely different from rinsing. Soaking gives the grains a head start on cooking and yields a better texture—it’s a common step in cooking basmati, which needs to be rinsed and soaked. Greg Massa, owner of Massa Organics, a family farm in Northern California producing organic brown rice, notes that some people like rinsing brown rice to remove any bran dust before cooking. Bran dust doesn’t affect the rice as it cooks, so removing it (or not) is really more of a personal preference. From here on out, I’ll take a pass on rinsing, but count me in on soaking Asian rices. Use your newfound knowledge to make the best versions of these rice recipes: 1. Kimchi and Shrimp Fried Rice Tired of the same ol' rice pilaf? Here's a way to use up that extra kimchi you have from some other dish and whip together an interesting, and totally satisfying meal that doesn't take forever.

It's got that powerful tang coupled with a full-flavored savory essence that speaks for itself. Get our Kimchi and Shrimp Fried Rice recipe. An oldie but a goodie. There's nothing fancy about this classic dessert, but oh, is it good, hitting just the right notes of creamy and sweet comfort. Add raisins and cinnamon if you want, or keep it purely vanilla (literally). Get our Easy Rice Pudding recipe. Wild rice takes a turn in the lovely Cajun dance of andouille sausage, shrimp, and peppers in this easy one-pot dish. You'll need to get your Dutch oven for this one, or at least a heavy stew-type pot. Get our Wild Rice Jambalaya recipe. 4. Sweet Chile-Chicken Rice Bowl Sweet and spicy, what a combo. Add savory to that flavor coupling, and pow! We've fallen in love with this dish, which means takeout can never happen again. The knowledge can't be undone. Get our Sweet Chile-Chicken Rice Bowl recipe. Affectionately called rice balls in some circles, these Italian croquettes have many versions, some including spiced, ground meat in the middle too.

Here, you use arborio rice, which is a short-grain Italian rice. The mozzarella and Parmesan make it so oozy and gooey-great. Sun-dried tomatoes and basil, yeah, they're nice too. Get our Tomato-Basil Arancini recipe. 6. Stuffed Red Bell Peppers with Ground Chicken We have a fascination with stuffing ourselves with food stuffed into other food. Good thing the chain doesn't continue farther up than that! Anyways, stuffed peppers are fun. Here's a well-balanced meal all packed into a ruby jewelry box of sorts. Get our Stuffed Red Bell Peppers with Ground Chicken recipe. 7. Thai Red Curry with Kabocha Squash Don't let the Kabocha squash part of this recipe deter you. If you can't find that particular squash, just go with butternut or acorn. You could even do frozen if it's not the right season for it. This dish is too flavorful to miss. Get our Thai Red Curry with Kabocha Squash recipe. — First published by Leena Trivedi-Grenier on April 7, 2014; updated by Amy Sowder on August 3, 2016.