When vegetarian food is good, you don’t miss meat. This miso soup fits the bill; here it’s been “beefed up” with some hearty pearl barley and pumpkin.
Ingredients
Method
Main
1.Soak dried wakame in cold water until soft (10 minutes), drain and pat dry with absorbent paper. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over high heat to 180C. Cut wakame into 5cm pieces and fry in batches (be careful, oil will spit) until light-green and crisp (1-2 minutes). Drain on absorbent paper and set aside.
2.Combine dashi powder and 3 litres water in a large saucepan, bring to the boil over high heat, add barley, reduce heat to medium and simmer until nearly tender (15 minutes). Add pumpkin and cook until pumpkin and barley are tender (20-30 minutes).
3.Combine miso paste and 60ml liquid from the soup in a bowl to dissolve, then add miso mixture back to soup and stir to combine (don’t allow soup to boil). Remove from heat and serve immediately topped with fried wakame.
Note Dried wakame, dashi powder and shiro miso paste are available from Japanese grocers.
Notes
