Due to my being ill, the thought of drinking any alcoholic substances other than Nyquil makes me queasy.  I was definitely not going to go to the dining hall, but my suitemate lured me with the promise of miso soup.  It sounded like a very cold-lifting substance, but what I found in the dining hall was really less than delightful.  It had tofu, yes, but where were the yummy green onions?  And when I twirled my spoon around in my bowl the stock remained lifeless and didn’t billow up like real miso soup should.

When I got home I still had the craving for miso soup so I looked up what it should really be made out of online.  Turns out, miso soup is really super easy to make if you can get to a Japanese or Asian market to buy dashi and miso paste (why not pick up some agar agar while you’re at it?). All you need is instant dashi powder, tofu, green onions (available at Shaw’s!) and miso paste.  Follow the instructions for the dashi powder about how much water to add.  (Typically about 1 teaspoon for 3 cups of water) and bring this to a boil in whatever you have available to cook in.  Obviously a stove top is best, but we don’t all live off campus/ in swing space.  We have a microwave and a broken water boiler and you can totally use a microwave to boil water, you just have to watch it to make sure it doesn’t bubble over.  Stir in the miso paste (3 to 4 tablespoons) and tofu (as much as you’d like, though most recipes recommend one block) and re-heat.  I don’t like my green onions to be super hot and the microwave will make them wilty so just add those at the end.  Voila!  Dining hall Japanese cuisine!