Miso grateful for miso soup!
I'm currently obsessed with Miso soup as my go-to breakfast drink, snack, midday energy booster, and just good old comfort in a mug. There are tons of health benefits. Read on to see if it's for you!
What is miso soup ?
Miso soup is a traditional Japanese breakfast that consists of stirring in miso paste into a stock (dashi). Miso paste is a salty & seasoned fermented soybean paste.
So what I do, is just buy the miso paste and stir a teaspoon at a time into a mug of boiling water. Done. The most basic yet delicious miso soup!
If you want to go for a chunkier soup, you can follow the Japanese, and stir in some soft tofu, re-hydrated mushrooms and seaweed to give the soup more flavor and heartiness, but I have to say I'm a fan of keeping it simple.
Other than being salty, the Japanese characterize the taste as being 'umami' which is the fifth flavour that the tongue can distinguish, after Sweet, Salty, Sour, and Bitter. It's the flavor of "hearty" I would say. It's that secret ingredient, it's what makes comfort food so comforting.
What are the health benefits?
In addition to miso being high in protein, it is rich in essential minerals and a good source of vitamins B, E, K and folic acid.
There is another huge benefit, and it's that of aiding digestion & maintaining gut health. You might be familiar with 'probiotics' which are present in fermented foods. Probiotics are beneficial microorganism (bacteria) that aid our digestion, and help our bodies self-regulate, keeping us healthy and happy. Gut health is known to be linked to overall mental and physical wellness, and personally as someone who struggles to maintain good digestive health, it has been a blessing. The fresh miso will have live bacteria, so that's the one to go for when choosing one to buy!
Where do you get it?
Firstly you need to know that there are different types of miso and the tastes will depend on each. In general you can find red miso, black miso, yellow miso, white miso, and the flavor changes between each, being strongest with red & black miso, and mildest with white miso. My go-to for the basic hug-in-a-mug aka miso broth, I choose a dark miso. But you're welcome to try out all the flavors and change the stir in quantity as you wish!
You can buy in a variety of different ways, either fresh or dried packets. Dried miso soup packets is the easiest thing for your average Montreal supermarket, in the Asian food section, unless you go to an Asian food supermarket, where you are faced with multiple possibilities. However, do consider that dried miso will no longer have the bacteria that will aid digestion.
That is why, you should choose the unpasteurised, live, enzyme-rich miso paste instead. You will have to store it in your fridge, but since it's fermented, you can keep it in the fridge for quite a long time! Sometimes up to 2 years!
