Miso Soup

Most of you have had miso soup, right? Here's a bit of background on miso for those of you who don't know what it is. Anyhow, most of you probably know miso soup from sushi joints which usually give out an obligatory bowl to the patrons.

It's crazy easy to make, here's what you'll need:
I'm using shiro miso for this soup. Measure out 4 tablespoons of miso and set aside.

Take 4 cups of water and add a teaspoon of instant dashi powder. If you just want to use water, that's fine too. Whichever liquid you choose to use, start bringing it to a boil. Sometimes, when I'm not budget constrained and am feeling ambitious, I'll make my own dashi. Not this time, though!

Cube up half of a block of soft tofu and set aside. Mince 1/2 a green onion top. Place the green onion in your serving bowl. Miso needs to be softened by mixing it into a small amount of the hot dashi or water. Place the miso into a bowl and ladle the liquid over the miso. Using a fork or a whisk, break up the clumps of miso. When this is done, combine the miso/dashi mixture with the rest of the dashi and bring up to a simmer. Drop the tofu into the soup and heat through. Ladle the soup into the green onion bowl and your done!
$0.80 cents for the pot of soup. Takes maybe 10 minutes.