Miso Soup & Rice

Bowl of steaming miso soup served with white rice

Origin of Miso Soup with Rice Cake

Miso Soup has a very long history. It originated in the Heian period (794-1885).  At the time, rice cakes were a celebratory food, reserved only for special occasions.

On the very first day of the year, people drew water from the well for the first time in the new year, then cooked the rice cakes and vegetables on the fire that was lit for the first time in the new year. The name of the dish, Miso Soup, came from how the vegetables and rice cakes are cooked together. 

What’s in Miso Soup with Rice Cake

  • Round rice cakes
  • Sliced carrot
  • Sliced daikon
  • Small taro
  • Dashi stock
  • Sweet shiro miso, such as Saikyo miso
  • Blanched mitsuba, mizuna, or spinach as a garnish

Traditional Japanese miso soup with tofu and seaweed

How to Make Miso Soup with Rice Cake

  1. Cut vegetables and boil them until almost tender.
  2. Cook vegetables and rice cakes in dashi stock.
  3. Add miso to the broth and dilute it.
  4. Serve with a garnish if using.

If you have time, I would strongly recommend that you put in an extra effort to shape the sliced carrot and daikon into flowers. Flower-shaped vegetables are perfect for a happy occasion.


Ingredients

  • 2 round rice cakes (30g/1.1oz each)
  • 35-40g/1.2-1.4oz carrot sliced into 8mm/5⁄16" thick discs 
  • 35-40g/1.2-1.4oz daikon sliced into 8mm/5⁄16" thick discs 
  • 2 small taro peeled (about 30g/1.1oz each after peeled)
  • 350ml/11.8fl oz dashi stock
  • 50g/1.8oz Saikyo miso (or sweet shiro miso)
  • Garnish (optional)
  • Mitsuba or mizuna leaves, spinach


Instructions

  1. Halve each taro horizontally so that the size of the taro is similar to other vegetables.
  2. Put carrot, daikon, and taro in a pot with water and bring them to a boil.
  3. Boil vegetables until they are almost tender (it took about 8 minutes) and drain .
  4. Put the vegetables, rice cakes, and dashi stock in a pot and bring them to a boil.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 2-3 minutes until the rice cake becomes soft in the centre.
  6. Using a small sieve, dilute the miso into the broth .
  7. When the soup starts boiling again, turn the heat off.
  8. Serve 1 rice cake, two slices each of carrot and daikon, and two pieces of taro in a serving bowl with the miso soup. Place mizuna leaves if using.

Prep Time:         Cook Time:          Total Time:

 10 mins                15 mins                25 mins


Healthy miso soup garnished with green onions and sesame seeds


Recipe Notes

➯If you have a flower-shaped vegetable cutter, cut carrot and daikon slices into flower shapes. 

➯Each vegetable piece might require a different time to cook, so check occasionally and remove the vegetables from the pot if they are ready and the others need more time to cook.

➯Instead of using a sieve, you can use a ladle and chopsticks. Put the miso in a ladle, then lower the ladle into the broth gently until a small amount of broth flows into the ladle. Use chopsticks to dilute the miso in the ladle.

➯Nutrition per serving.

serving: 292g calories: 216kcal fat: 4g (6%) saturated fat: 1.8g (9%) trans fat: 0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.8g monounsaturated fat: 0.7g cholesterol: 3mg (1%) sodium: 895mg (37%) potassium: 606mg (17%) carbohydrates: 39g (11%) dietary fibre: 3.9g (16%) sugar: 20.0g protein: 7.5g vitamin a: 59% vitamin c: 11% calcium: 4% iron: 8%

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