Miso: Quick breakfast
I've been taking the ingredients for miso soup to work with me for breakfast lately. I pack these things together in a recloseable container, bring it to work and add hot water for a quick breakfast.
* Wakame - this is dried seaweed. A tiny little bit reconstitutes to a huge size, so use sparingly.
* Mushroom - I'll add a few slivers of some sort of veggie for texture. I usually try to use bean sprouts, but mushroom works also. Don't use too much or you'll overpower the delicate flavor of the miso. Chopped green onions are also commonly added to miso soup.
* Miso paste - the main ingredient for miso soup. About one tablespoon for each cup of water.
* Dashi - i.e. fish juice. I don't care for the taste of vegan miso soup, which lacks the distinctive "dead fish" flavor of much Japanese cuisine. I keep powdered instant dashi in the cupboard. The miso paste shown here has the dashi already added.
* Tofu - I get the extra firm variety because it travels well.
I used to buy instant miso soup before I realized I could just pack the ingredients like this. It's cheaper and tastes better and there's maybe three minutes of preparation involved.
Low fat, low carbs, high protein, and way too much salt to be healthy. My blood pressure these days is around 100 / 70, which is considered good, but a high salt diet may also be linked to the high stomach cancer rates in Japan.