DISCOVER THIS YEAR'S TOP THREE FOOD TRENDS AT KILDARE VILLAGE LOUNGE WITH FIONA UYEMA

On Saturday April 2nd I gave a talk about this year's "Top Three Food Trends" with seaweed expert Tom Jones from Sea of Vitality.

We spoke about seaweed, matcha and fermentation. During the talk I prepared tastings and drinks for the guests to demonstrate how easily these ingredients can be included in everyday dishes i.e matcha granola, freshly made sushi rolls. miso soup, seaweed pickled salad and matcha flavoured smoothies.

I really enjoyed this event and the lounge at Kildare Village is stunning!

I've linked some of the recipes from my blog at the start of this post, You can also find most of these recipes and much more in my cookbook "Japanese Food Made Easy".

JAPANESE MISO SOUP RECIPE: WHITE MISO SOUP WITH CARROTS & BEANSPROUT

White miso paste is a nice introduction into the world of miso if you don't eat miso regularly. This miso paste has a mild taste compared to darker coloured ones. Once you've managed to source miso paste and have it in your fridge it takes little time to make miso soup. It's traditionally served with a main meal however depending on what you put in the soup it could be served as a light lunch or main meal!

I buy Japanese miso paste in my local Asian market, however you can also buy it in health stores. I haven't seen it in supermarkets in Ireland yet but I think they sell it in supermarkets around the world including the UK, America, Australia etc.

Serves 4
Prep time 10 mins
Cooking time 15 mins

Ingredients:

1 litre homemade dashi stock or 1 litre water and 1 tbsp dashi granules

200g carrots (peeled and cut into julienne strips)

100g beansprouts

2-3 tbsp white miso paste

Sesame seeds (optional to garnish) 

Spring onion (optional to garnish)

Instructions: 

1. If you're using homemade dashi then click here to see how to make homemade dashi. Once the homemade dashi is ready put it in a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil. 
2. If you're using dashi granules then put 1 litre of cold water into a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil. Then add 1 tbsp of dashi granules to the water and stir.
3. Once the dashi is boiling add the carrots. 
4. When the carrots are nearly cooked add the beansprouts and continue to boil for one minute (I like the vegetables to be crunchy rather than overcooked).
5. Before adding the miso paste lower the heat allowing the dashi to simmer only. 
6. Dilute the miso paste in a cup of dashi taken from the saucepan. Then, add to the saucepan and gently mix all the ingredients.
7. Garnish with spring onion and sesame seeds if you can. 

How to eat:
Japanese people drink soup directly from the bowl and then use chopsticks to eat vegetables in the miso soup. 

Tips:  
Once you add the miso paste never boil the miso soup only allow to simmer.

Why not: 
Add pork to this recipe.

Easy Japanese Miso Shiru Recipe: Miso Soup

When I lived in Japan I had miso soup almost everyday. So, when I left Japan and returned to Ireland I really missed the taste of real Japanese miso soup. I could buy miso soup sachets in Asian supermarkets and health stores or order miso soup in Asian restaurants around the country but none of them compared to the delicious taste of this simple recipe that you can make at home. 

Ingredients: 
1000ml dashi* (homemade or instant dashi)

180g potato (peeled and cut into small bite sized cubes) 
60g onion (peeled and thinly sliced)
2-3 tbsp miso* paste (you can add more if you like a stronger taste)

*Click here to see miso and dashi explained on my "Basic Japanese ingredients - what they are and where you can find them" post
*Click here to see my recipe for homemade dashi (fish stock)

Instructions: 

1. Put the dashi in a medium sized saucepan and turn the heat up to maximum. 
2. Once the dashi is boiling add the potatoes. 
3. When the potatoes are nearly cooked add the onion and continue to boil until the onion slices are nice and soft. 
4. Before adding the miso paste lower the heat allowing the dashi to simmer only. 
5. Dilute the miso paste in a cup of dashi taken from the saucepan. Then, add to the saucepan and gently mix all the ingredients. 

The miso soup is now ready! 

How to eat: 
Serve in a bowl with chopsticks or a spoon. Japanese people hold the bowl to their mouth to drink the soup. They use chopsticks to eat the bite size ingredients in the soup.

Tips:

1. Never boil the miso soup only allow to simmer.
2. Leave the chopped potato cubes into a bowl of cold water for a few minutes to remove excess starch before adding to the dashi.

Why not: 
Add tofu and wakame seaweed instead of potato and onion or any of your favourite vegetables.