This is a delicious miso soup that does not require bonito flakes! It contains no animal products, so it's vegan friendly. The key to a good miso soup is not to have two ingredients that have the same texture. So, besides the dashi & miso, you can personalize your miso soup in any way you desire. I've included three of my favorite ingredients which are fairly traditional and easy to find at any supermarket.

Ingredients:

For the dashi (stock):

- 1 sheet dried Kelp (Kombu)
- 1 handful dried Shiitake mushrooms
- 3-4 cups water

For the soup:

- 3 to 4 tablespoons of Miso paste (any color)
- 1 cup of water
- 1 scallion, sliced thin
- 1.5 oz of Japanese Tofu, cut into 1" cubes
- 2 tablespoons of rehydrated (1 tblsp dry) Seaweed (Wakame)
- soy sauce (optional)

Before starting the dashi, wipe the kelp sheet with a damp paper towel (do not submerge in water just yet!) to remove excess salt. Make a few slits into the sheet, and submerge into 3-4 cups of water in a saucepan, along with dried shiitake. Allow to soak 20-40 minutes (the longer, the better). Turn the heat on high and bring to a simmer. Just before the water begins to boil, take out the kelp. Turn off heat and let shiitake steep for at least 20 minutes. Strain out shiitake (you can use a paper towel lined strainer to remove the tiniest fragments), you can save the mushrooms for other dishes.

Now, in a measuring cup, dilute miso paste in one cup of water (add sugar if you like). Bring dashi back to a boil and throw in wakame and tofu. Pour in miso mixture and bring back to a simmer (DO NOT BOIL!!). Take off heat and toss in scallions.

Serve and enjoy!

Note: I've heard of recipes that included soy sauce in the miso mixture, but that, to me... kinda sounds like adding ketchup to tomato soup. It isn't necessary, and it sounds like it would taste funny.

Serves: 2-4

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