Just thought I’d <bump> this thread with some sort of speculation on your problem with the miso Chas.
Have you considered substituting some hanna katsuo flakes for the bonito in your Dashi? I realize that they are slightly different things. They are both extracts of bonita fish. I have found that hanna katsuo is much more delicate in flavor. You may wish to scent some chicken broth with a few flakes of the hanna katsuo and strain them back off.
Big question:
Are you allowing the konbu to boil? Evidently, this allows an off odor to develop. One recipe mentions the addition of a small amount of sugar. I’m not sure this is the best solution though. You also want to be sure to strain off the bonito flakes prior to using the dashi.
One trick I use is to add a little yellow onion pulp to round out the flavor. Another factor is that your mother may have used aji-no-moto (MSG) in her soup. I do not use it myself. You might want to experiment with mushrooms to introduce natural MSG into your soup.
Please do me a favor and post your recipe. Here are a few from the SOAR Archives at Berkeley.
-----DASHI-----
6 cups Water
1 Strip EDEN Kombu
1/4 cup EDEN Bonito Flakes
- (may be doubled)
1 small Onion – sliced in
- very thin half moons
1 Carrot
- cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 c Bok choy
– (cut into medium pieces)
– (use green tops only)
1 tb EDEN Instant Wakame Flakes
1/4 Block fresh tofu
– cut into small cubes
3 tb EDEN Barley Miso – OR…
-OR- half EDEN Barley Miso
- and EDEN Shiro Miso)
4 Scallions, chopped
Prepare Dashi: Combine water and kombu, bring to a boil. Turn off heat.
Add bonito flakes, stir and cover. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, strain soup
broth and discard bonito and kombu. Add onion and carrots to broth,
simmer 5 minutes. Add wakame flakes and greens, simmer 1-2 minutes and
then turn off heat. Dilute Miso in 1/2 cup soup broth, add to soup. Add
tofu. Garnish with scallions and serve.
4 c Water
1 pk Ichiban Dashi powder
(or make it fresh, see next
Message)
1/4 c Miso
(fermented soybean paste)
Garnish*
Garnish may be any of the following, fresh daikon slices, tofu, wakame
(seaweed, soaked 15 minutes beforehand) mushrooms, spinach or similar
veggie.
Boil water, add Dashi, add vegatable and cook for 1 minute. Turn heat
to low, and stir in Miso in small amounts. Garnish with freshly
shredded scallion, and serve.
From: Ferd
Date: 09-13-96 (23:46)
4 c Water
1/4 c Miso (fermented soybean paste)
1 pk Ichiban Dashi powder
(or make it fresh, see next Garnish*
Message)
Garnish may be any of the following, fresh daikon slices, tofu, wakame
(seaweed, soaked 15 minutes beforehand) mushrooms, spinach or similar
veggie.
Boil water, add Dashi, add vegatable and cook for 1 minute. Turn heat
to low, and stir in Miso in small amounts. Garnish with freshly
shredded scallion, and serve.
From: Ferd
Date: 09-13-96 (23:46)
3 Tablespoons red or white miso – or more to taste
3 1/2 Cups dashi or diluted chicken stock
3 Ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms – stems removed/sliced
1/3 Cake tofu – drained,diced
1/3 Cup watercress leaves – loosely packed
–Garnish–
Hot pepper sesame oil (optional)
In a small bowl soften the miso by stirring in tablespoonfuls of warm dashi.
Mixture should be very smooth like a thick sauce. Gradually stir softened
miso into remaining dashi and bring to a simmer in a pot over moderate heat.
Add the mushrooms and tofu and simmer gently until mushrooms are just
tender. Be careful not to boil soup. Add watercress and ladle into warm
bowls and serve immediately. Place a drop or two of hot pepper sesame oil in
each bowl if desired.
Yield: 4 servings
**
DASHI STOCK:
1 quart cold water
1 one ounce piece of konbu seaweed
1 ounce dried bonito flakes (katsno)
Add water and konbu to a soup pot and heat slowly to a bare simmer. This
should take at least 8 minutes. Do not boil – konbu develops a strong odor
and off flavor if boiled. Remove konbu and add bonito. Bring to a boil and
then immediately remove from heat (this is done to insure a clear stock).
Allow the bonito flakes to begin to settle to the bottom of the pot. Strain
stock through a cheesecloth lined strainer.
I think the above is one of the best for dashi. This is where I would try substituting some of the hanna katsuo.
**
6 c Ichiban dashi (recipe)
1/2 c Aka miso (red soybean paste)
Aji-no-moto (msg)
Place the ichiban dashi in a 2 quart saucepan and
set a sieve over the pan. With the back of a large
spoon, rub the miso through the sieve, moistening it
from time to time with some of the dashi to help force
it through more easily.
Bring the soup to a simmer over moderate heat. Then
remove from the heat and stir in a small pinch of MSG.
Pour the soup into bowls, add misoshiru no-me (miso
soup garnish - see recipes) and serve at once. If the
soup seems to be seperating, stir to recombine it.
Miso soups are sweeter than other Japanese soups and
usually are served toward the end of a formal Japanese
meal.
From: Time/Life Foods of the World - Japanese