Topic · White Stocks Making
Okinawa Island Clam Miso Soup
Okinawa Island Clam Miso Soup
Miso soup is made of a fermented soybean paste used for broth. Freeze the ginger and thaw it before squeezing; that way, extracting the juice will be easy. Chilled sake goes well with the meal
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, (peeled and grated)
- 2 cups Dashi, (see definition)
- 2 cups water
- 18 pieces small fresh clams, (scrubbed)
- 3 tablespoons sweet white miso, (= shiro-miso)
- 1 tablespoon red miso, (= aka-miso)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon wakame seaweed
- 1 tablespoon tofu, (cut into small cubes)
- 1 small green onion, (thinly sliced)
Combine Dashi and water in a large pot over medium-high heat and bring to boil for five minutes. Add the clams, cover; simmer until clams open, about three minutes (discard clams that do not open). Remove from heat. Transfer clams to a bowl. Remove meat from shells; reserve meat and shells separately. Strain broth through a fine strainer and return the broth to the rinsed pot.
In a bowl, mix the sweet white miso (shiro-miso), the red miso (aka-miso), and the Soya sauce together. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add 1/4 cup broth to miso; stir until miso dissolves. Whisk miso into the broth in a pot. Add grated ginger juice and keep warm over medium-low heat (do not boil).
Place a clam shell in each bowl. Place 3 pieces of clam meat in each shell. Sprinkle around the wakame seaweed and tofu, ladle the broth over and garnish the top with the green onion. Serve immediately.
Definition: Used extensively in Japanese cooking, dashi is a soup stock made with dried bonito tuna flakes and water. Dashi-no-moto is this stock in instant form; it comes granulated, powdered and in a concentrate. It should be available at your local Japanese food store.
