Wakame Soup Japanese Style (Printer-friendly)

Light Japanese seaweed soup with tender wakame, tofu, and savory miso dashi broth.

# What You'll Need:

→ Seaweed and Broth

01 - 0.28 oz dried wakame seaweed
02 - 4 cups dashi stock, vegetarian

→ Vegetables and Tofu

03 - 3.5 oz silken or firm tofu, cubed
04 - 2 scallions, thinly sliced

→ Seasoning

05 - 2 tablespoons white miso paste
06 - 1 teaspoon gluten-free soy sauce
07 - 1 teaspoon sesame oil, optional

# Directions:

01 - Soak dried wakame in cold water for 5 minutes until fully rehydrated. Drain and set aside.
02 - Pour dashi stock into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
03 - Add cubed tofu and rehydrated wakame to the simmering broth. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
04 - In a separate bowl, whisk miso paste with a ladle of hot broth until smooth and lump-free. Pour the mixture back into the soup.
05 - Add soy sauce and sesame oil if desired. Stir gently and heat for 1 additional minute without allowing the soup to boil.
06 - Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sliced scallions. Serve immediately while hot.

# Expert advice:

01 -
  • It comes together faster than you can boil water, making it perfect for mornings when you need comfort but not chaos.
  • The seaweed handles all the heavy lifting nutritionally, so you can feel genuinely nourished without overthinking it.
  • One pot, minimal prep, and somehow tastes like you tried harder than you did.
02 -
  • Never boil miso paste after adding it to your broth, because heat destroys the living cultures and fermented complexity that make it special in the first place.
  • If your wakame seems too salty after soaking, you can rinse it briefly, but don't oversoak or it becomes mushy and loses its delicate texture entirely.
03 -
  • If you can't find good dashi stock, make your own by simmering kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms for twenty minutes, then straining; it costs almost nothing and tastes infinitely better than packaged versions.
  • Keep white miso paste in your pantry always, because it's the secret weapon that transforms plain broths and soups into something that tastes like you actually know what you're doing.
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