With a shortcut dashi stock and 15 minutes, you can make this umami-rich Miso Soup with Enoki Mushrooms and Ground Sesame. Sweet Japanese long green onion, hand-torn tofu, and ground sesame seeds add wonderful texture and flavor to the soup. {Vegan Adaptable}
In Japan, we enjoy many variations of miso soup (miso shiru) based on seasonal ingredients. That’s why I’m sharing with you a different miso soup recipe every 30th of the month for Miso Day (味噌の日) to add to my JOC Miso Soup Recipes collection. This month, I’m sharing Miso Soup with Enoki Mushrooms and Ground Sesame featuring delicious Tokyo negi (Japanese long green onion).
I’m a big fan of negi because it adds a naturally sweet flavor when cooked till tender. Japanese people also believe that negi keeps a cold at bay, especially during wintertime when Tokyo negi are in peak season (November to March). In this soup, I paired negi with enoki mushrooms because we can slice both into a similar shape, which makes it easier to drink the miso soup.
Ingredients
Read the recipe card below for more detailed info, but here is an overview.
- Japanese long green onion (negi) – Japanese and Korean grocery stores carry thick and long green onion. The white part of the green onion is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide.
- Enoki mushrooms – You can use other types of mushrooms like shimeji mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms.
- Tofu – Use medium tofu for the wonderful texture.
- Roasted sesame oil – Stir-fry the vegetables with a small amount of sesame oil.
- Grated ginger – Add a hint of ginger to this miso soup for a bit of a spicy kick.
- Dashi (Japanese soup stock) – More about the dashi below.
- Miso – Any miso you have in the fridge works! I used organic brown rice miso today.
- Ground white sesame seeds – I recommend toasting the sesame seeds in an ungreased frying pan to bring out their aroma.
How to Make Miso Soup with Enoki and Sesame
- Add the roasted sesame oil to a pot and sauté the white part of the long green onion, the grated ginger, and the enoki mushrooms.
- Add the dashi soup stock and bring it to a simmer.
- Once simmering, turn off the heat. Dissolve the miso into the soup.
- Hand-tear the tofu and add to the soup.
- Add the thinly sliced green part of the long green onion and ground sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!
3 Ways to Make Dashi
Dashi is a Japanese soup stock, and many of you are already familiar with dashi-making methods. Just in case you’re new to making dashi, here are 3 ways to make dashi:
- Homemade dashi — You can make standard Awase Dashi by steeping kombu (edible kelp) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) in water. If you’re vegetarian/vegan, make Vegan dashi with kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms.
- Dashi packet — A dashi packet is the best shortcut method that I use often. Similar to making tea, you steep the dashi packet in water and cook for a couple of minutes. Despite its quick method, the flavor of this dashi is pretty good.
- Dashi powder — Dashi powder is my least favorite method due to its lack of flavor, but you can make a quick dashi with just dashi powder and hot water.
If you want to learn more about dashi, check out The Ultimate Dashi Guidewhere I talk about 6 different types of dashi and the above 3 methods in detail.
Recipe Tips
To improve the flavor of the miso soup, here are a few things to consider:
- Add grated ginger for a light, refreshing flavor that counterbalances the bold sesame oil and miso flavors. I love using my ceramic grater to grate the ginger (as well as onion, daikon, and so on). You could use a microplane as well.
- Toast the sesame seeds in an ungreased pan if they look pale or are untoasted. Then, grind them in a mortar and pestle before serving. The addition of toasted sesame seeds elevates your miso soup flavor.
- Add miso paste to the hot soup stock off the heat, just before serving. Do not boil the miso. This is one of the most important points to consider when making miso soup.
What to Serve with This Miso Soup
Seasonal Miso Soup Recipes
If you enjoy making and drinking miso soup daily, browse our JOC Miso Soup Recipes collection to find the perfect variation! I made recipe lists based on the season so you can incorporate more seasonal vegetables into your miso soup.
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Miso Soup with Enoki Mushrooms and Ground Sesame
With a shortcut dashi stock and 15 minutes, you can make this umami-rich Miso Soup with Enoki Mushrooms and Ground Sesame. Sweet Japanese long green onion, hand-torn tofu, and ground sesame seeds add wonderful texture and flavor to the soup. {Vegan Adaptable}
Ingredients
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Instructions
To Make the Soup Stock (Dashi)
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To a medium saucepan, add 2 cups water and 1 dashi packet. Bring it to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.
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Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 2–3 minutes. Pick up and shake the dashi packet to release more flavor, then discard it. Transfer the soup stock to a measuring cup. You should have a bit less than 2 cups or 480 ml of dashi. (A typical miso soup bowl holds 200 ml of liquid.) Set aside the saucepan to cook the miso soup.
To Prepare the Ingredients
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Cut 1 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) to separate the white and green parts. Thinly slice the white part diagonally. Thinly slice the green part on the diagonal and set aside.
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Cut off and discard the root end of ¼ package enoki mushrooms. Then, cut the mushrooms in half crosswise.
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Peel the ginger, then grate it (I use a ceramic grater). Measure ½ tsp ginger (grated, with juice).
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Add 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds to a mortar and pestle. Grind roughly, leaving some seeds unground for texture.
To Cook the Miso Soup
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Heat the saucepan over medium heat. When the pot is hot, add ½ Tbsp toasted sesame oil. Then, add the sliced white part of the Tokyo negi.
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Sauté for 2 minutes. Then, add the grated ginger.
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Sauté for 1 minute. Next, add the enoki.
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Sauté for 1 minute. Now, add the dashi.
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Bring it to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Then, dissolve 3 Tbsp miso into the soup pot: Put the miso in a ladle, add hot stock to the ladle, and stir with chopsticks to dissolve completely. Here, I‘m using a fine-mesh miso strainer that dissolves the miso faster. If you see rice who left in the strainer, you either can add it to the soup or discard it (personal preference). Alternatively, you could use a miso muddler to dissolve the miso.
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Hand-tear ½ block medium-firm tofu (momen dofu) into bite-size pieces directly into the miso pot. Tearing by hand adds texture and creates more surface area so the tofu absorbs more flavor.
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Add the sliced green parts of the Tokyo negi and the ground sesame seeds to the pot.
To Serve
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Serve the hot miso soup in individual soup bowls. Place on the right side of the table setting; you can read about this in my post Ichiju Sansai (One Soup Three Dishes). If reheatingwarm up the miso soup in a pot over medium heat just until hot. NEVER BOIL miso soup because it will lose its flavor and aroma.
To Store
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It‘s best to consume all the miso soup right away because it loses aroma and taste over time. To refrigerate, cool the soup to room temperature (no longer than 4 hours) and keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. To make a big batch for later, refrigerate the soup without adding the miso. When ready to use, add the miso only for the portion you need. You can freeze the soup for up to 2 weeks; remove the tofu before freezing as the texture will change.
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