Miso Soup with Tofu and Seaweed

20 min easy japanese serves 4

souptofuquick

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (3 g) dried wakame seaweed
1/2 ounce dried kombu (14 g ; about 1 (6- by 5-inch) piece), rinsed in cold water
Cold water
1/2 ounce katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings) (14 g ; about 2 1/2 cups)
About 1/3 cake (160 g) silken tofu, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon (16 g) mild miso, such as shiro (white) miso (see note)
2 tablespoons (32 g) dark miso, such as hatcho or aka (red) miso (see note)
1 scallion, white and light green parts only, sliced thinly on the bias

In a small bowl, cover wakame with enough cold water to cover and let stand at room temperature until soft, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine kombu with 3 1/2 cups (830ml) cold water and cook over medium heat until water just starts to boil, about 6 minutes. Remove kombu with tongs and discard or reserve for another use. (Kombu can be cut into thin slivers and tossed into a salad.)
Add a few tablespoons cold water to saucepan to lower temperature, then add katsuobushi and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer dashi for 7 minutes.
Strain dashi through a fine-mesh strainer set over a heatproof bowl; discard katsuobushi. Return dashi to a clean saucepan. Drain wakame and add to dashi along with tofu; be very gentle, since tofu is fragile and will break easily. Set over medium heat until warmed through.
In a small bowl, whisk both misos with just enough warm dashi to dissolve into a thin paste. Remove dashi from heat and very gently stir in miso paste, being careful not to break the tofu.
Carefully ladle soup into warmed bowls, garnish with scallions, and serve immediately.