Secret of Miso Soup - Part 2: Finishing the Soup

Now that you have your beautiful dashi from Part 1 of this post, turning it into miso soup is a breeze.

If you haven't already, reconstitute the wakame in some warm water. It'll plump up nicely. Then chop your tofu into 1/4 inch cubes.

Dried Wakame (left) and Reconsituted Wakame (right)

Now bring your dashi up to the simmer, then add 1 tablespoon white miso.

White Miso

Then add 1 tablespoon red miso.

Red Miso

If you're only using white miso paste, you may wind up needing a bit more than two tablespoons to get it to the saltiness you like. For red miso, start with 1-1/2 tablespoon and add more if you'd like. Once the miso paste is dissolved, add your diced tofu (eyeball it, I usually wind up using a bit less than a box) and your wakame.

Simmer another five minutes to warm the tofu and serve with a sprinkle of scallion.