A nice hot bowl of soup warms the soul when it’s chilly outside! Soups are great year round but the time I appreciate soups the most is during the cold weather months. I tend to cook a lot of different soups at home where it has both protein and vegetables so all I need to do is serve it with rice and dinner is ready!
Pork and Tofu Miso Soup Basic Ingredients
This quick and easy Pork and Tofu Miso Soup is a Japanese style light miso soup with pork belly, tofu and veggies. If you think pork belly is too fatty, you can use other cuts of pork. For the tofu, use firm or medium firm tofu so they don’t crumble in the soup.
When it comes to the vegetables, I usually use napa cabbage, carrots and shiitake mushrooms. Sometimes I will also add daikon, konnyaku bundles or Tokyo negi/leeks as well. If you’d like to make this a vegetarian soup, simply remove the pork belly and use broth or mushroom dashi instead.
Secrets to Making Pork and Tofu Miso Soup
Here’s a couple of secrets to making a clearer and better miso soup:
- Cook the pork belly separately – this allows you to skim the fat and scum out of the stock before continuing to cook the rest of the dish, making the soup less greasy and more “clean” looking.
- Dissolve the miso paste with a miso strainer – this strainer allows you to thoroughly dissolve the miso paste. You can get one at Daiso (Japanese dollar store) for cheap.
Pork & Tofu Miso Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pk medium firm tofu (cut into blocks or large slices)
- 200g sliced pork belly (I use the one for shabu shabu)
- 1/2 large carrot, sliced thick
- 1/2 head of a napa cabbage, cut into large sections
- 8 pcs shiitake mushrooms
- 1 pk shirataki bundles, rinsed with cold water (optional)
- 5 cups dashi stock (or chicken/vegetable stock)
- 2.5 tbsp miso paste
Instructions
- In a pot, heat the dashi broth to a simmer. Add in sliced pork belly a few at a time to cook. Remove them to a bowl as soon as they change colour or about to be done - about 30 seconds. Repeat until all pork belly slices are cooked.
- While the broth is still simmering, skim off the scum on the surface of the stock then add in carrots and napa cabbage. Bring the stock to a boil again and continue to skim off the scum if there are any. Add in the miso paste and stir until dissolved.
- Add in the tofu, shirataki bundles and shiitake mushrooms. Make sure they are submerged into the stock. If you need to push ingredients around, do it gently so you don't break up the tofu. Let the veggies cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add in the pork belly slices. Close the lid and turn off heat and let it steam for 2-3 minutes before serving.