Friday Night Japanese Bistro

On Friday night, J and I had our very own Japanese bistro meal, complete with edamame, miso soup, and onigiri (triangle shaped rice roasted on the stove with a soy sauce-mirin sauce) and some rice and nori rolls (we had extra rice and the nori on hand so we just improvised)  

In the future, we'd like to make some simple rolls and stuff them with avocado, cucumber and maybe a little fish for a cheap and easy meal, along with miso soup since we have a lot of the ingredients needed to make the soup left over (Dashi stock, miso paste and tofu).  It was a pretty rice heavy meal so it would have been nice to have some fish or steamed vegetables (other than the edamame) to balance it out!

Here are some photos of the meal and the miso soup recipe:

Edamame, or boiled soy beans in their pods--they are salty and crunchy and make for a great snack!

Clockwise: miso soup, onigiri, and rolls

 

Pictured above, clockwise: sushi rice, Dashi stock granules (for miso soup), nori (seaweed), Indo Mie noodle bowls (for lunches or snack) and gingko beans (for another forthcoming recipe).

Homemade Miso Soup, taken from here:

Ingredients:

3 cups of water

3 teaspoons of Dashi stock granules

4 ounces of tofu, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

3 tablespoons of miso paste--we used red but green or white also works well

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 sheet of Nori, cut into strips

Kitchen Supplies:

Small stockpot

Cutting board

Knife

Glass bowl

Combine water and Dashi stock in stockpot.  Bring to a boil then reduce to low, adding tofu and Nori strips.  Reduce heat and simmer for three to four minutes.  Spoon miso paste into a glass bowl.  Ladle two cups of soup into glass bowl and combine well.  Return mixture to the stockpot and stir, taking care not to allow the mixture to boil once the miso paste has been added.  Stir in green onions and serve.

Serves: 4

We have tried to make homemade miso soup in the past using only water, miso paste, tofu and green onions and it never was quite right.  We have since discovered that the Dashi stock is crucial to making restaurant quality miso soup at home.  Now that I know the secret, I will be making this often as it only takes minutes to make and is absolutely delicious!

Have you made something at home lately that you usually only eat at a restaurant?  What was it and how did it turn out?

P.S. Want to see another homemade sushi we've had this year, this time with my parents out in California?  Click here for pictures!