Simple Measure

Yes, Meg just posted a tribute to miso soup a few days ago. But bear with me. I’ve been itching to write about this super healthy version since I recovered from a minor cold last week.

I don’t get sick often. I had no idea how to deal with it. Jared went to the drugstore down the street and came back loaded with Emergen C and cough drops, extra tissues and decongestants. None of it worked. “Heh heh”, my cold snickered. “It’s not going to be that easy.” Shoot.

Meg — remember when the flu completely laid you out? This particular episode will immediately spring to your mind because you never get sick either. You had caught a pretty ferocious bug. I came over to your apartment and there you were, all icky and sniffly on the couch. You hadn’t eaten real food in days.

I was armed with all the fixin’s for chicken soup — something I had never made before. Even when I did eat meat I had no clue how to prepare it at home. But a kind co-worker had filled me in on the basics so I set up camp in your kitchen until I could come out with a big steaming bowl for you. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to eat it. Your appetite did come around and you swore it made you feel a lot better.

Nowadays chicken soup is out of the question. Yet last week when I dragged my icky, sniffly self home from work I was greeted by a fantastic alternative: a hug from Jared and a big warm bowl of cabbage miso soup.

Miso is known to soothe the stomach and ease digestion — and I’ll swear by that as it’s calmed a snarling stomach for me more than once. Miso (mee - so) is a nutritious Japanese seasoning, a fermented soybean paste you can find in Asian groceries and most health food stores.

There’s a miso for every mood: you can try it light and sweet, or dark and savory. It comes aged one year all the way up to three years. It can be fermented with hearty grains like brown rice or barley, or more exotic additions like adzuki beans and dark greens. The Japanese often start the morning with a bowl of miso broth, the same way we suck down coffee. Although I’ve never had a case of miso jitters.

Jared’s version of miso soup was heavy on the ginger and garlic — just the delicious boost my immune system needed. The cabbage is also high in cold-fighting vitamin C.

This batch was particularly lucky. The miso I prefer is lightly processed, and you’ll often find whole soybeans, grains and greens swirling around at the bottom of your soup pot. One of my last spoonfuls turned up a whole dandelion head (it was dandelion leek miso, after all). It was a first in all the years I’ve been enjoying this type of miso. I showed the scraggly little flower to Jared, shrugged, and ate it. Just as salty and indistinguishable from the rest, but I felt pretty special.

If you’ve crossed chicken soup off your cold remedy list, give this a try. I swear, it did more for me then all the store-bought syrups, powders, and drops I tried.

Healing Miso Soup
Serves 4

My all time favorite miso is the Dandelion Leek miso from South River Miso company. Their miso trumps all the usual suspects you’re likely find in your local market. Processed in the traditional manner and certified organic, it would be hard to find another miso company that cares so much about putting out such a high quality product. My kitchen would not be complete without it.

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 small head of green cabbage, shredded

1 cup crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, sliced

3 large cloves garlic, crushed or finely diced

2 inch piece fresh ginger, grated

1 Tbs vegetable oil

2 heaping Tbs dark miso

5 cups water

1 dash chile garlic paste

chopped scallion to garnish

Saute garlic in the bottom of a heavy pot until slightly soft, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, cabbage, ginger and carrot and saute for about 5 more minutes until beginning to soften.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are your desired tenderness. Put the miso in a separate bowl and ladle some broth into it. Mix the miso in the water until the paste has dissolved.

Turn off the heat and pour the miso broth into the pot. It’s important to never boil miso, or you will kill all the living bacteria that makes it so healthy for your digestive system.

Taste and add more miso if necessary. Add chile garlic paste and serve, garnished with scallions.