Oct 7
2010

Miso Soup with Clams, Shiitake Mushrooms, & Wakame

in Japanese, Recipes By Region, Recipes by Type, Seafood, Side Dish, Soup & Stew

* The winner of the Jarlsberg Tailgate Tote Giveaway, as chosen by Random.org, was comment #19:

#19

Comment 19 was from Melissa. This is how she said she would use Jarlsberg cheese!

Comment #19

Congrats Melissa, I’ll be emailing you to get your contact info so we can ship you your tote!!

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When Martin (owner of I Love Blue Sea) drove down all of the fresh seafood for our Sushi 101 event, he also brought me a cooler of seafood to play with for the next round of our Sustainable Seafood Tour!

Sustainable Seafood Tour

A few days later I cooked a 4 course meal for family using the seafood.  One of the things I made was miso soup with clams, fresh shiitake mushrooms, and wakame.  Clams, when farmed or gathered responsibly, are a great sustainable seafood choice.  Aquaculture (farming of seafood) is well-managed and has a low impact on the evironment.  Like oysters, clams are filter-feeders and can actually have a positive impact on the ocean by clearing tiny particles and debris from the water around them.

Manila Clams

The clams I used to make my miso soup were Manila Clams, sustainably raised in the United States in a low-impact aquaculture operation.  These little guys have a wonderful sweet flavor, and taste fabulous in a hot bowl of miso soup.  I LOVE miso soup, and love how easy it is to make at home from scratch!  Once your dashi (basic Japanese seafood stock) is ready, this soup only takes a few minutes to prepare before it is ready to serve.  All you have to do is simmer the clams and shiitake mushrooms in some dashi, then whisk your miso paste into the broth, and add the wakame.  This soup is a perfect light addition to a fall meal!

Miso Soup with Clams, Shiitake Mushrooms, & Wakame

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Miso Soup with Clams, Shiitake Mushrooms, & Wakame

Makes 4 servings

4 cups dashi
1 pound clams
4 tablespoons miso paste
2 tablespoons prepared wakame*
3 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1. Bring the dashi to a simmer in a medium-size pot over medium high heat.

2. Reduce the heat to low, add the clams, and cover.  Cook the clams just until they open, about 3 minutes.  Remove the clams with a slotted spoon.  If any clams remain closed, return the lid and continue cooking the claims for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Remove the open clams and discard any that are still unopened.  Strain the broth if needed.

3. Add the shiitake mushrooms to the broth and simmer for one minute, then whisk the miso paste into the broth following the instructions below.**

4. To serve, divide the cooked clams and wakame among four bowls.  Ladle the soup broth and shiitake mushrooms over the ingredients in the 4 bowls and serve warm.

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RECIPE NOTES:

* To prepare dried wakame: Place the wakame in a medium-size bowl, cover with 2 cups of cold water, and soak for about 3 to 5 minutes.  The wakame will expand many times during soaking.  Discard the soaking water and gently squeeze out the water from the softened wakame.

** This can be done 2 ways:

  1. Place the miso on a flat strainer-spoon, and then gently massage the miso into the liquid.
  2. Ladle a bit of broth into a small bowl.  Whisk in the miso until it has dissolved, and then slowly pour this mixture back into the pot, stirring to combine.

*** Note that miso does not fully dissolve into the broth, so it will separate and settle at the bottom of the bowl.  That is perfectly normal!  Just give the broth a quick swirl with your chopsticks and the broth will remix.

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* Disclosure: I Love Blue Sea provided the clams to me free of cost for the recipe development in this post.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Fuji Papa October 7, 2010 at 10:03 pm

The clams in the miso soup are an incredible combination. It makes my mouth water just to think of the bowl I had.

Reply

Paula - bell'alimento October 8, 2010 at 6:47 am

Clams, perfection in their own little package!

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Chefjustinthyme October 8, 2010 at 7:23 am

Wonderful recipe! I make a version of this with imu (kālua pork) which adds a nice textural contrast as well as a little fat…it really transforms the dish into something other worldy! thanks for sharing!

Reply

Joy October 8, 2010 at 11:00 am

The soup looks great.

Reply

Jean October 19, 2010 at 5:16 pm

My mother used to make a clam soup when I was younger and I loved it. I can only imagine how much more flavor they imparted to this miso soup. Sounds perfect for tonight. Yum!

Reply

Odette December 16, 2013 at 4:17 am

What a stuff of un-ambiguity and preserveness of
valuable know-how concerning unpredicted emotions.

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