Wakame Soup Japanese Seaweed (Printable version)

Nourishing Japanese seaweed soup with tofu and miso in delicate dashi broth

# Ingredients list:

→ Seaweed and Broth

01 - 1/4 ounce dried wakame seaweed
02 - 4 cups dashi stock

→ Vegetables and Tofu

03 - 3.5 ounces silken or firm tofu, cubed
04 - 2 scallions, thinly sliced

→ Seasoning

05 - 2 tablespoons white miso paste
06 - 1 teaspoon soy sauce
07 - 1 teaspoon sesame oil

# Steps:

01 - Soak the dried wakame in cold water for 5 minutes until fully rehydrated. Drain and set aside.
02 - Pour dashi stock into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
03 - Add the cubed tofu and rehydrated wakame to the simmering stock. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
04 - In a separate bowl, blend the miso paste with a ladle of hot broth until completely smooth.
05 - Stir the miso mixture back into the soup, combining thoroughly.
06 - Add soy sauce and sesame oil, stir gently, and heat for 1 additional minute without allowing the soup to boil.
07 - Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with sliced scallions. Serve immediately while hot.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It comes together in twenty minutes flat, which means you can have something genuinely nourishing before your stomach gives up on dinner.
  • Wakame is loaded with iodine and minerals your body actually craves, making this feel like self-care in a bowl.
  • The broth is delicate enough to accompany anything, but filling enough to stand alone on nights when you need simplicity.
02 -
  • Never boil miso directly in hot broth or you'll destroy the living cultures and end up with bitter, one-dimensional soup; tempering it in a separate bowl saves everything.
  • The difference between good dashi and mediocre dashi is the difference between this being comforting and this being just warm water with ingredients floating in it—invest in real kombu and shiitake or use a quality prepared stock.
03 -
  • Use a ladle to temper your miso rather than a spoon—the larger surface area means faster, more even blending and fewer lumps in your finished soup.
  • If you can find fresh wakame at a Japanese market, try it sometime; it's less forgiving texture-wise but the flavor is noticeably brighter and more alive than dried seaweed.
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