Fresh Pea Soup With Miso

Name: Fresh Pea Soup With Miso
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon coconut or vegetable oil; 1 medium leek, diced, both white and tender green parts; 3/4 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed, then chopped; Salt and pepper; 4 cups hot chicken broth or dashi; 4 tablespoons white or red miso; 4 ounces soft tofu; 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions; A few shiso (perilla) leaves, roughly chopped (optional)

By David Tanis

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 4(140)
Comments: Read comments

This simple Japanese-inflected soup has a delicate green flavor and a lovely creamy consistency. Served in small bowls, it makes a perfect beginning to a spring meal. Using white miso (shiro miso) keeps the soup light; red miso (a k a miso) gives it a nutty, more earthy flavor. Both are good. Japanese groceries sell fragrant shiso leaves in tiny bunches, and also offer the best choices for soft, silken tofu.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

1tablespoon coconut or vegetable oil
1medium leek, diced, both white and tender green parts
¾pound sugar snap peas, trimmed, then chopped
Salt and pepper
4cups hot chicken broth or dashi
4tablespoons white or red miso
4ounces soft tofu
2tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
A few shiso (perilla) leaves, roughly chopped (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Put oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Step 2
Add snap peas to pot and season well with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup water and simmer until peas are soft, about 3 minutes. Add broth and miso and cook 1 minute more.
Step 3
Purée mixture in a blender, then pour through a fine mesh sieve, pressing with a wooden spoon to extract all liquid. Return strained soup to pot and check seasoning. (May be made up to a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat just before serving.)
Step 4
To serve, spoon a little tofu into each small soup bowl. Pour hot soup over. Garnish with scallions and shiso.

Ratings

4 out of 5

140 user ratings

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Comments

Lynn D.7 years ago

I thought this soup was delicious and a wonderful use of my bumper crop of snow peas. I didn't bother straining the soup. I think this could go off in all sorts of interesting directions. Serve cold like gazpacho, perhaps adding some raw cucumbers. How about a Thai direction, lemon grass? ginger? But make this as is you'll love it.

Sara7 years ago

Very good, but next time I would add more snap peas!

Jim6 years ago

I skip the water and simmer the snap peas in dashi. Works well with frozen sugar snap peas. Minced cilantro or chiffanade of Thai basil also nice as a garnish. Excellent recipe.

Naplak1 year ago

Not sure if I did something wrong but this was VERY salty!

Laura3 years ago

The soup is good! I was trying to find my dashi granules, but the chicken stock did the job for now. I didn't strain it since I wanted to keep as much nutrients as possible (I started making soup today and yesterday to help my roommate while she's sick). I doubled the amount of tofu because I felt 4 oz was too little (and just to help use up the container of tofu since they're usually like 12 oz-16 oz a container). I also made rice to accompany the soup.

LHRow3 years ago

Be super careful when blending hot liquids! Make sure lid is on tight and hold it on with a folded dish towel. I used mint as a sub for shiso. Delicious and would be nice cold ala gazpacho as another reviewer said.

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