Miso Soup

Miso soup is fermented soybean paste dissolved into hot dashi with tofu and seaweed. It's the small bowl that accompanies almost every set meal in Japan, and it's telling that it almost never appears on a menu as a dish in its own right — it's the constant, not the main event.

What it actually is

Dashi stock, usually built from kombu and bonito flakes, is brought to a gentle simmer, and a spoonful of fermented miso paste is dissolved into it off the boil, since prolonged boiling flattens the paste's aroma. Cubes of soft tofu and rehydrated wakame seaweed go into the bowl, and a scattering of sliced spring onion finishes it just before serving.

Different miso pastes — white, red, or a blend — change the soup noticeably: white miso gives a lighter, sweeter bowl, while red miso is saltier and more assertive, and a good kitchen has a clear reason for which one it uses.

How it's served

• In a small lidded bowl, alongside rice and a main dish, as part of a set meal.
• Hot, drunk directly from the bowl rather than eaten with a spoon, the tofu and seaweed picked out with chopsticks.
• Freshly made to order, since the miso loses its aroma if it sits and reheats.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag soy and fish; the miso and the bonito-based dashi carry both respectively.
• Say if you use a kombu-only dashi, which removes the fish and makes the soup naturally vegan and vegetarian.
• Note which miso — white, red or a blend — since the flavour difference is real and some guests have a preference.
• Mention that it's served alongside a meal, not as a course on its own; positioning it that way sets the right expectation.