Originally <a href='http://www.sportsbookreview.com/forum/showthread.php?p=23108461'>posted</a> on 12/01/2014:

Well, back to recipes. Been working on this one for a while, it sure as hell does not look like much but holy penetrating shit is it ever good:




Just a simple miso soup, done properly. With cooking the devil is always in the details. Start with kombu, soak in cold water for about 15 minutes, then slowly bring up to a simmer, then strain the liquid. The kombu is what will give the broth its salinity, so adjust to taste. Then throw in a whole bunch of bonito flakes, again bring up to a simmer, but do not allow to boil, let simmer very lightly for about 10 minutes. At this time, if you have some available, remove the stems from shitake mushrooms and add them to the broth with the bonito. After 10 minutes of very, very gentle simmering, strain.

Ok, now you've got a pretty awesome broth, which is called dashi - optional step I learned from Momofuku: If you have any slab bacon, cook it off until all the fat is rendered out, then pat it dry, add it to the broth and steep for about 30 minutes on very very gentle simmer. Should you choose to do this, you may end up with some fat in your liquid, but this is easily remedied by placing your liquid in the fridge for a few hours, the fat will seperate and rise to the top and can easily be skimmed off. Or, if you are not as picky as I am, just roll with it.

Take a cup or so of the liquid out, and put it into a blender, add miso paste and allow to puree. Miso is delicious, but unless you blend the shit out of it, it can be difficult to break up and has sort of a "gritty" quality to it. Another option here is to use a fine mesh strainer to break it up but it just doesn't quite work as well.

Now then, simply heat the broth and season with a good soy sauce, and some mirin, to taste. Heat the broth and pour it over whatever you want. Green onions and tofu are pretty much a must, I like the firmer tofu but if you want, choose the softer variety, it kind of melts into the soup, in a good way. Other ideas: browned caps from the shitake mushrooms you used to make the broth, seared shrimp, nori, the left over bacon from making the stock (I highly recommend this one), octopus, or just drink it out of a mug. The stuff is so delicious that it blows your mind.