The Miso Soup Project, Part 1 (54 Miso Soups)

Learn about the Miso Soup Project, which explores regional variations of the Japanese staple food, miso soup. This article includes a comprehensive list of main ingredient and miso combinations, along with helpful definitions for different types of miso.

I read somewhere that at one time, Japanese consumed a hundred bowls of miso soup a month, on average. A whole lot of soup! But for good reason, because miso is truly a remarkable food: Fermented from soybeans, salt and rice or barley, or just soybeans and salt, it's loaded with nutrients, lactic acid bacteria (like yogurt) and easily absorbed protein -- fermentation basically "predigests" the protein before it reaches your gut. It's also incredibly tasty, brimming with umami and complex, savory flavors and aroma. So it's not surprising that Japanese have traditionally eaten so much of it.

What is surprising -- to me, at least -- is that here in America what we usually see of this soup is the same combination of tofu and wakame seaweed, the workhorse broth of sushi joints from coast to coast. Delicious, yes, but oh so tired. What a shame, since in Japan there are hundreds (daresay thousands?) of delightful varieties of this comforting food. I think of this every time I travel to Japan and go to town on a mind-blowing bowl of miso soup! (Like the four kinds I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago in Tokyo.)

So I've decided to do something about our unfortunate "soup gap." Starting with this post, I'm launching an occasional series where I ask friends in Japan to share with me -- and you -- their favorite miso soup combinations. Call it the Miso Soup Project.

What I'm going to do is simply list combinations of main ingredients and types of miso. I'll leave it up to you to work out the proportions to suit your individual taste, and the kind of dashi you like (for dashi, see this post and this one).

I hope you try these soups! When you do, please let me know in the comments what you thought of them, your favorites and any tips and suggestions we can learn from.

(Come to think of it, why don't I soon post a detailed miso soup primer with a Japanese chef here in New York, to give you a better idea of proportions and cooking techniques. Stay tuned…)

Okay, first up, I've asked my wife's best friend Tomoko and her mom to share regional miso soups from their home province of Niigata, a breathtaking area in the north of the country along the Sea of Japan. Here are the delicious combinations they sent me (some helpful definitions to follow):

1. Daikon and shiro miso
2. Daikon, mochi and shiro miso
3. Daikon, taro and shiro miso
4. Daikon, taro, mochi and shiro miso
5. Daikon, carrot and inaka miso
6. Daikon, potato and awase miso
7. Daikon, potato, taro and awase miso
8. Tofu, potato, onion and awase miso
9. Potato, wakame, enoki mushrooms and awase miso
10. Spinach, tofu and awase miso
11. Spinach and awase miso
12. Spinach, tofu, abura age and awase miso
13. Eggplant, sweet potato and awase miso
14. Cabbage, sweet potato and awase miso
15. Onion, kabocha pumpkin, eggplant, string beans and awase miso
16. Eggplant and inaka miso
17. Onion, kabocha pumpkin, eggplant and awase miso
18. String beans, abura age and awase miso
19. Daikon, thin-sliced pork, burdock, carrot, taro, atsu age and awase miso
20. Daikon, daikon leaves and inaka miso
21. Daikon, carrot, taro and awase miso
22. Daikon, carrot, taro, natto, daikon leaves and awase miso
23. Daikon, abura age and awase miso
24. Daikon, abura age, atsu age and awase miso
25. Shiitake and aka dashi
26. Dried shiitake, wakame and aka dashi
27. Wakame, negi and awase miso
28. Onion, wakame, potato and awase miso
29. Shiitake, wakame and awase miso
30. Nameko, tofu, shiraga negi ("gray hair" negi -- the white part cut into thin strands) and awase miso
31. Nameko and aka dashi
32. Tofu, negi and awase miso
33. Myoga, eggplant, string beans and awase miso
34. Myoga and awase miso
35. Myoga, wakame and awase miso
36. Tsumire (sardine dumplings), negi and awase miso
37. Komatsuna, abura age and awase miso
38. Komatsuna and inaka miso
39. Japanese turnips and shiro miso
40. Japanese turnips and awase miso
41. Japanese turnips, abura age and awase miso
42. Bamboo shoots, wakame and awase miso
43. Rape shoots and awase miso
44. Tiny clams (Manila clams would work) and aka dashi
45. Tiny clams and awase miso
46. Asari clams and awase miso
47. Shrimp heads and shiro miso
48. Cabbage, corn and awase miso
49. Cabbage, corn, onion and awase miso
50. Napa cabbage, shiitake, carrot and awase miso
51. Natto and inaka miso
52. Natto, negi and awase miso
53. Tai head, nila and awase miso
54. Salmon, daikon, carrot, taro and awase miso

Some helpful definitions:

• Shiro miso is basic savory white miso, like Shinshu miso from the Nagano area.
• Inaka miso is "countryside" miso, that is, red miso ground coarse, farmhouse-style. Sendai miso is a terrific inaka-style miso.
• Awase miso is a combination of red and white miso, which you can do yourself (start with 1-to-1, but try other proportions).
• Aka dashi is dense Hatcho miso cut with red miso.

Questions? Please ask in the comments. Okay, I want to see everyone eating a hundred bowls of miso soup a month!

(Thank you Tomoko and her mom!!)