Midwest Miso
The somewhat raucous kitchen does not always have everything on hand to make dinner.
A few weeks ago I bought some packages of instant miso soup, $0.25 per bag of four packets, each of which would reconstitute into 8 ounces of thick, salty miso with tiny tofu bits floating in it.
I pondered what I would make with this cheap miso. I could drink it like tea at work. I could make myself yummy soy-based vegetable soups. Or, alternatively, I could use it for wildly non-macrobiotic purposes its creators never intended.
At my parents' household, a meal is not a meal without meat, and most soups also contain meat. Certainly main dish soups contain meat. I decided that a simple soup containing stewing beef, watercress, and miso would be delicious, and the meat and vegetables would absorb some of the salt so the soup would not taste quite so salty.
Unfortunately, watercress requires a special trip to the city, and I didn't get around to it right away, so when it came time for me to make dinner tonight, I decided to do without my watercress. My mother went to town to take my aunt to her driving test and play in the alumni band. I was excused from these duties, but only in exchange for making dinner. I clearly got the better end of this deal, so I was more than happy to make dinner.
At my request, Mom left me a nice hunk of beef to thaw on the countertop. I inspected the refrigerator and came up with some appropriate soup vegetables.
In the mid-afternoon I began to cook. I chopped half a Vidalia onion and sauteed it in canola oil. I browned the hunk of beef. I cut up a garlic clove and a carrot, slicing the carrot into small strips because I think it looks cute that way. The carrots are from my uncle's garden, so they are particularly tasty. They are not merely better than grocery store carrots, they are also better than carrots from other people's gardens. I do not know why this is, but it is so.
After adding the garlic and carrot, I chopped up a celery stalk and a cup of cabbage, and I added them too. I poured in 6 cups of water and 4 individual packets of dried miso mix. Then I turned up the heat and waited.
After a while I took out the hunk of meat, chopped it up, and put it back in. By this time the soup was done, sooner than I expected, so I shut off the heat and let it cool. Then it occurred to me that I should add ginger, so I threw in a small piece of dried ginger. I refrigerated it until dinnertime, when I forgot to add cilantro, reheated the soup, and served it.
Here are the ingredients that went into the soup:
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
around a pound of beef
one medium carrot, julienne
one garlic clove, minced
one stalk of celery, chopped
1 cup cabbage, lightly chopped
6 c. water
4 packets dried miso
fresh or dried ginger
black pepper to taste
I thought it was very tasty, although the beef was a little tough. I would have preferred to use a different cut, such as stewing chunks or a small roast. It would have been good with an added grain, as well, like barley or rice.
A few weeks ago I bought some packages of instant miso soup, $0.25 per bag of four packets, each of which would reconstitute into 8 ounces of thick, salty miso with tiny tofu bits floating in it.
I pondered what I would make with this cheap miso. I could drink it like tea at work. I could make myself yummy soy-based vegetable soups. Or, alternatively, I could use it for wildly non-macrobiotic purposes its creators never intended.
At my parents' household, a meal is not a meal without meat, and most soups also contain meat. Certainly main dish soups contain meat. I decided that a simple soup containing stewing beef, watercress, and miso would be delicious, and the meat and vegetables would absorb some of the salt so the soup would not taste quite so salty.
Unfortunately, watercress requires a special trip to the city, and I didn't get around to it right away, so when it came time for me to make dinner tonight, I decided to do without my watercress. My mother went to town to take my aunt to her driving test and play in the alumni band. I was excused from these duties, but only in exchange for making dinner. I clearly got the better end of this deal, so I was more than happy to make dinner.
At my request, Mom left me a nice hunk of beef to thaw on the countertop. I inspected the refrigerator and came up with some appropriate soup vegetables.
In the mid-afternoon I began to cook. I chopped half a Vidalia onion and sauteed it in canola oil. I browned the hunk of beef. I cut up a garlic clove and a carrot, slicing the carrot into small strips because I think it looks cute that way. The carrots are from my uncle's garden, so they are particularly tasty. They are not merely better than grocery store carrots, they are also better than carrots from other people's gardens. I do not know why this is, but it is so.
After adding the garlic and carrot, I chopped up a celery stalk and a cup of cabbage, and I added them too. I poured in 6 cups of water and 4 individual packets of dried miso mix. Then I turned up the heat and waited.
After a while I took out the hunk of meat, chopped it up, and put it back in. By this time the soup was done, sooner than I expected, so I shut off the heat and let it cool. Then it occurred to me that I should add ginger, so I threw in a small piece of dried ginger. I refrigerated it until dinnertime, when I forgot to add cilantro, reheated the soup, and served it.
Here are the ingredients that went into the soup:
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
around a pound of beef
one medium carrot, julienne
one garlic clove, minced
one stalk of celery, chopped
1 cup cabbage, lightly chopped
6 c. water
4 packets dried miso
fresh or dried ginger
black pepper to taste
I thought it was very tasty, although the beef was a little tough. I would have preferred to use a different cut, such as stewing chunks or a small roast. It would have been good with an added grain, as well, like barley or rice.
Labels: food
posted by Margo at 7:31 PM
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