Clam Miso Soup by Yuki Gomi

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 4 (approx 900g)

Some traditional Japanese people have miso soup with every meal, and a lot of restaurants serve it for free as part of the menu. You can use a variety of ingredients for miso soup, mix it with vegetables, mushrooms or shellfish, and choose your favourite dashi, or stock. It is important to use good-quality stock and miso.

Ingredients

• 300–350g clams
• 600ml cold water
• 5cm-long piece of dried kombu (kelp)
• 3 tablespoons of white miso paste
• 4 teaspoons of chopped chives, to garnish

Method

1. Ask your fishmonger if the clams have been cleaned. If not, place them in a bowl with plenty of salted water: 1 tablespoon of salt to 500ml of water. Leave them in the fridge or a cool dark place for at least 1 hour, so that they release any sand. Rub the shells with your fingers to clean them. Throw away any that are slightly open, as these may be bad, then rinse the rest under cold running water and drain well.
2. Pour 600ml of cold water into a large saucepan. Put a piece of dried kombu into the pan and leave for 30 minutes until the kombu expands and softens.
3. Add the clams to the pan and start heating up on a medium heat. When it begins to boil, turn down the heat and remove and discard the kombu. Skim off any scum from the surface. By this time, the clams should be open. Discard any that aren’t.
4. Scoop out some of the stock from the pan using a ladle and put into a small bowl. Add the miso paste to the bowl and stir until it dissolves. Gradually add the diluted miso to the soup, stirring gently. Remove from the heat.
5. Serve in small soup bowls and garnish with chopped chives.

Tips

• Use different types of clams or shellfish, as well as different miso pastes, such as hatcho miso and awase barley miso. Experiment and see which one you like best.
• Do not overcook the soup as this will ruin the flavour.