My Momoko

This story was inspired by Mikan's how to cook Japanese curry. I had a Re-ment miso cooking set and all the right ingredients too.

Momoko sisters Chika and Kika are homesick for some Japanese food since arriving in California. Luckily, several Asian markets are nearby. They wanted to share how to make one of their favorite comfort foods--miso soup!

Ingredients:
Miso paste (found in the refrigerated section)
Tofu (firm)
green onions
wakame (dried seaweed, not nori, which are the seaweed sheets for making sushi)
water

Human-sized ingredients


Doll-sized ingredients


1. Boil 1 quart (1 litre) of water in a pot.
2. Take 2-3 generous dollops of miso paste using a tablespoon and place into boiling water. Stir the pot to help dissolve the paste.


3. Dice the tofu into small pieces and cut up the green onions.






4. Reduce the heat and toss in the green onions and tofu.





5. Finally, turn off the stove and toss in a handful of wakame. Wakame sort of looks like tea leaves, but will expand several times their size in hot water.


6. Enjoy the miso soup!

Beautifully done!! You really took advantage of the props and the soup looks delicious!!! (I just ate but now I'm hungry again....)

P.S. That white miso box is also the one I like to get! It's so mild

I can't help but want to contribute some miso soup cultural trivia:

You can also use dashi/Japanese soup stock instead of plain boiling water.

In authentic Japanese inns, Miso soup is generally served at the end of a multi-course meal, not as an appetizer like in America.

No one serves miso soup with udon noodle spoons in Japan....

In Maison Ikkoku, the hero tries to propose by saying "I want to eat your miso soup" (i.e. come cook for me)... as I recall he is totally misunderstood, and winds up getting miso soup.

Pouring miso soup on rice tastes nice but used to be looked down upon as a really low class thing to do.... (But they do go well together ... just keep them separate!)

People allergic to shellfish or iodine should not drink restaurant or commercial miso soup because of the seaweed content (someone I know learned this the hard way)!

I had one more but can't remember it....

Thanks, Mikan! Again, spending too much time photographing my dolls instead of doing housework. Hey, but at least I made dinner at the same time!

The great thing about making miso soup yourself is that you can leave out the tofu, onions or wakame if you don't like them. I also make sure that I buy the miso paste without MSG. I was going to try one miso paste that had bonito in it, but I saw it had MSG so I didn't get it.

My hand looks much chubbier and stubbier in the picture than in real life.

By the way, my kids got a kick out of seeing my dolls cooking along with me.

LOL dinner and dolls are always more fun than housework....
Your hands are not chubby looking! They look normal! (No comparing to Momoko proportions!)
And hey, always fun to let kids get a kick out of things! IMHO

How cool!

I love the dolls and minis of course, but also the recipe!

Miso soup is yum! I didn't know it was so easy to make! Must try it!

Smiles Zoila

LOL I just noticed the little jar of dashi powdered soup stock the Momokos have. That's even my favorite "brand" (the one Re-ment is spoofing), though I used to add it to ramen. I wonder how it does in miso soup?

Fabulous and yummy!

Wow thats so cool.

Great pictures and info on how to make miso soup! I really want to try that some day. But I don't know where to buy miso... And you can't buy tofu in the (small) village i live in, sad 'cause I love making tofu stew. :(

SheSaid wrote:Great pictures and info on how to make miso soup! I really want to try that some day. But I don't know where to buy miso... And you can't buy tofu in the (small) village i live in, sad 'cause I love making tofu stew. :(

Too bad miso paste is perishable so it cannot be mailed to you.
What?! No stores carry tofu where you live? I would die!

Now I'm going to have to try making some miso soup.

SheSaid wrote:Great pictures and info on how to make miso soup! I really want to try that some day. But I don't know where to buy miso... And you can't buy tofu in the (small) village i live in, sad 'cause I love making tofu stew. :(

If you are really desperate you can sorta make tofu from dried soybeans... but it's a painstaking process....

Great tutor! I can cook miso soup at home now! Yummy!

Wow! Pretty soon, we can make a Momoko cook book. Hm, not to cook Momokos, but to cook WITH Momokos!

Loved the tutorial, sounds very easy to make (just the way I like it!)

Great picture recipe. I loved reading it. I have never had miso soup and the only tofu I have had tasted really bad. My mom made it to be tofu jerky? yuck. Yours looks so much yummier.