Miso Soup

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups water
Small handful dried bonito flakes (mine came in sugar-style serving sizes)
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
A 4-inch piece of dried wakame (mine were in flakes) 
6 tablespoons miso paste
2 cups watercress, washed.

METHOD:
1. Heat the water. When bubbles start to form around the edge, add the bonito. Turn down the heat and simmer for two minutes. Turn off heat and simmer for five mins.
2. Strain the broth into a clean pot, discarding the bonito. Add the shiitake and wakame and simmer for 20mins. Discard any thick stems of the shiitake and wakame.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the miso paste with a bit of the broth and whisk to combine.
4. Pour the miso mixture into the broth pot and let simmer. At the last minute add the watercress (in my case noodles) then serve.

The process of making this soup was so much fun. I was working off the miso soup recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook "It's All Good". I wanted authentic ingredients so diligently looked up where I could buy Japanese goods nearby (this was a great resource: www.taste.com.au/kitchen/articles/shopping+for+japanese+ingredients+in+sydney,451).

I was absolutely delighted when I walked into "Anegawa" on Wilkes Ave in Artarmon. I was greeted by a "Konichiwa" so knew I was in the right place. The aisles were lined with Japanese goods and there were also fresh fruit and veg. The shop assistant took me under her wing and translated instructions on the packaging. She also gave me tips on how to store tofu and explained the difference between red and white miso paste (red is saltier). She topped it off by giving me two beautiful imported-from-Japan mandarins - yum!

So I was on a bit of a high after my shopping expedition but had to wait a few days to be able to get to the kitchen. Sydney-siders reading this will know today's weather is absolutely appalling - bucketing rain and strong winds. Now is the perfect chance!

I altered the recipe a little - admittedly I forgot to buy shiitake mushrooms, and following advice from the shop assistant added udon noodles at the end instead of the watercress to make the soup a little more filling. My bonito flakes were more like pellets that just dissolved in the boiling water so I could skip the first part of step 2 of the recipe too.

I did get a surprise half-way through though! I thought I was trotting along like a professional Japanese cook when I noticed my broth was looking very green - from tiny black flakes, the wakame becomes full seaweed leaves! I spoke out loud "Oh my God" after  looking into the pot. Lucky I like seaweed!

The soup took a lot longer than I would have expected for miso and I think there are much faster ways to do it - the instructions on the miso paste packet were basically boil paste with water and add tofu. It was tasty though - the flavour was very intense. My cat was sniffing at the air like crazy trying to work out where the fishy smell was coming from. If you don't like fish, skip putting the bonito flakes in. But, overall, very yum and very healthy!