Making miso soup tastier

Another attempt at creating a delicious miso soup

Vinny and I have a lot in common. I’ve heard that kids often need to taste a food 10 times before they learn to like it. That’s me to a T with miso.

First off, there are many kinds of miso, as I mentioned in my last post. I chose a high-quality organic miso called Mame Miso, well aged for 18 months. It’s dark brown and made only from soybeans – no rice or barley or any other grain in the mix.

As I am a neophyte when it comes to miso, I have nothing to compare it with. It’s the only type I’ve tried. And so far, I’ve only tried it twice. Last time I cheated by adding some beef bouillon to the broth. That tasted delicious. But today, I tried it exactly like the recipe I posted last week for Easy Miso Soup. The Verdict? Well… only so-so.

Easy Miso Soup

I was surprised that the soup didn’t taste salty. I almost wanted to add more salt. But I didn’t. That would have defeated the whole experiment behind using miso instead of salt for better heart health (see my previous post).

I was also surprised that the soup tasted so bland! Mame Miso looks so rich and savory and is hyped as providing a meaty flavor to foods. But I didn’t think it had much flavor at all. If anything, it has a slight sour tang, likely from the fermentation process.

I added the optional amounts of garlic and ginger to the soup-pot immediately upon tasting the broth. Not satisfied, I added some Sriracha. Then, thinking it needed a more full-bodied texture, I zapped the broth with two tablespoons of cream.

At that point, I thought the soup tasted OK. But I added a small pepperoni sausage for good measure, hoping for a meatier taste.

 

The verdict

So I’m not exactly sold on miso. Being a confirmed meat eater, it will probably take me some time to become used to the flavor of a meatless soup. The addition of sole fillets didn’t do the job for me. Next time I’ll try lots of shrimps. and more substantial veggies. Adding the cream and the pepperoni is counter intuitive to healthy eating, so I’ll have to do something else next time.

I suspect one of the problems is that I don’t like pasta or rice. Perhaps these produce a miso soup that sticks to the ribs better. Next time I might consider adding lentils, for the same effect.

In the meantime, I have a humongous package of Mame Miso, so I will have to find ways to use it up. Maybe once I get to the end of it, I’ll have come to like miso better. I do hope so, because it is a healthy food to have in one’s cupboard.

 

Do any of you have any suggestions for me and my miso? Ideas appreciated :).