Grandma J's Miso Soup (almost)

Of course it can never be quite the same, but I think I've come pretty close to recreating my grandmother's miso soup. I love the miso soup they serve at Japanese restaurants, but it's so...delicate. Grandma J's soup is sustaining, maybe even medicinal. I haven't had it in a decade, and I thought I would never have soup like hers again, until last night. Grandma, you trickster! It's SO EASY! It's no wonder she ate it nearly every day for brunch with a big bowl of sticky rice.


1 1/2 tbsp dashi flakes-There are photos of this and the next two ingredients at the end.
12 dried shitake mushroom
1 1/2 tbsp fueru wakame dried seaweed
1 package of firm silken tofu chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tbsp red miso paste

Put about 3 cups of cold water in a big pot add the dashi, and mushrooms. Let it soak in the cold water for about 5 minutes, add the kelp and soak for 10 minutes more. Add some more water to make up for the liquid absorbed and for the added bulk of the tofu. Put on medium heat. 10 minutes in, add tofu. Take 3 ladles worth of broth out of the pot and into a bowl, whisk the miso paste into the separate bowl until it's smooth and uniform. (No lumps of miso.) Add the mixture to the pot. Cook for 10 more minutes. Taste it and add more miso, dashi, or water as you see fit, and heat for a little while longer. You don't want it to boil, you want to warm this gently.

This is a brief description of the song by the composer: "Based on the hauntingly beautiful Sunayama, this composition tells a story of the inner conflict of a Japanese girl who falls in love with an American. She is torn between a life with him in America and her longing for the culture of her childhood. From time to time she plays a music box given to her by her parents (Sunayama theme), bringing a flood of homeland memories." via