Miso soup (味噌æ±, misoshiru?) is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a called "dashi" into which softened miso paste is mixed. Many ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference.
The choice of miso paste for the miso soup defines a great deal of its character and flavor. Miso pastes (a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and the fungus Aspergillus oryzae, known in Japanese as kÅjikin (麹èŒ?), and sometimes rice, barley, or other ingredients) can be categorized into red (akamiso), white (shiromiso), or mixed (awase). There are many variations within these themes, including regional variations, such as ShinshÅ« miso or Sendai miso.
A miso paste that has been fermented for a longer period of time, such as a red miso, gives the miso soup a stronger, deeper flavor. A miso paste that has been fermented for a shorter period of time, such as a white miso, provides a lighter, sweeter flavor.
More than 80% of Japan's total annual production of miso goes into miso soup, and 75% of all Japanese consume miso soup at least once a day.
The most common dashi soup stocks for miso soup are made of niboshi (dried baby sardines), kombu (dried kelp), katsuobushi (thin shavings of dried and smoked bonito, aka skipjack tuna), or hoshi-shiitake (dried shiitake). The kombu can also be used in combination with katsuobushi or hoshi-shiitake. The kelp and/or shiitake dashi serve as a vegetarian soup stock.
Outside Japan, American or European style miso soup is sometimes made by dissolving miso in a Western vegetable stock. The stock might include ingredients such as negi, carrot, potato and daikon radish. In some versions of the dish chicken stock, Western-style fish stock, and other non-dashi bases can even be used, but there is some debate over whether or not miso soups made using these non-traditional bases count as true misoshiru. Christian Japanese refugees who came to the Philippines during the Edo period brought along miso soup, but the Filipino recipe sinigang differs mainly by the inclusion of tamarind, which gives it a more sour taste than the original Japanese version.
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