Miso Soup with Korean Flair

The close-up photo was prettiest, but imagine a bowl of rice next to this.

My new food obsession is doenjang jigae. I love the zucchini in it, and I love that you just eat it with a bowl of rice to make it into a filling meal, as opposed to something like miso ramen which relies on noodles (my least favorite part). So I started looking into making it at home, but I got stuck on two things. One, the best recipes seem to involve using anchovies to make the broth, and I'm just not into doing that at home. And two, would I REALLY go through a tub of doenjang before it goes bad, especially when I already have miso in the fridge at all times?

So I decided to go with a hybrid. It's miso soup (dashi and miso paste), but I cook zucchini, garlic/onion, and other veggies in it, and we eat it with rice. I also add some gochujang, but it's easy to leave that out and make a mild version. I sometimes just add that to my bowl if I'm the only one who wants spice.

The Recipe:

4 c water

2 tsp instant dashi granules

3 tb miso paste

1/4 onion, sliced thin

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

optional: 1 tsp gochujang

veggies: zucchini, mushrooms, green onion, other?

tofu: soft or medium (not silken) tofu is best to soak up the flavor

other: We like Japanese fish cake, especially when it's pink

rice, on the side

The Verdict:

Overall grade: A-

Overall reason: So healthy and simple.

Time to prepare: 30 minutes

Husband quote: A surprised "Mmm!" every single time he tastes it, like he had been disappointed that I'd made soup and he wasn't expecting to like it.

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