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| Once you understand how Japanese soups work they become very easy to make and after a couple of tries you will be off inventing your own combinations. There are basically two types of soup: Suimono ("something to drink") which are clear and usually have three ingredients floating in them. They tend to be used as a palate cleanser inbetween courses and would traditionally be served in a covered bowl. And Shirumono which are thicker and have lots of ingredients - miso soup belongs to this class of soup. There are examples of both of these kinds in this chapter. A good soup requires a good stock and in Japan the stock used for most soups is called dashi. It is very simple to prepare and has very subtle flavours which unfortunately can be lost if left in the fridge too long or frozen. It is worth becoming familar with the preparation of dashi as it is used in many other recipes also. I couldn't find many traditional vegetarian soups so I set about creating my own adapting authentic meat and fish based recipes. Feel free to experiment with your own flavours and combinations and try to stick to seasonal ingredients for maximum taste and freshness and therefore minimum cost. |
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