Miso Soup

For first dashi:

1. Wipe off any excessive powder off the kombu with a damp paper towel. Some powder is desired.

2. Put 8 cups of water in a soup pot. (It's important to use water you would consider drinkable, as dashi is very delicate in flavor and bad tasting water will come through.) Add kombu to the water and turn the stove to medium heat. Slowly bring the water and kombu near to the point of simmering without actually letting the water boil. (This is important, as letting the water get that hot will cause the kombu to release icky tasting chemicals.) Using medium heat, this should take about 10-15 minutes, depending how how cold the water was to start with (mine was chilled, so it took 20 minutes).

3. Before the water boils, remove the kombu and reserve it for the second dashi. Keeping the water over heat, add the bonito flakes. Bring mixture to a boil, turn off the heat, and let the flakes sit in the water for about 2 minutes.

4. Strain the mixture through a mesh strainer. Reserve the bonito for the second dashi.

5. First dashi isn't used for miso soup, but it can be used in place of chicken or vegetable stock in other applications, like cooking rice.

For second dashi:

1. In a soup pot, combine 8 cups water and kombu and bonito flakes reserved from the first dashi. Again, make sure to use drinkable water.

2. Heat mixture over medium-low heat at the barest of simmers for about 10 minutes. Like the first dashi, letting the water boil will result in icky dashi, so be diligent!

3. Strain dashi through a mesh strainer, discard kombu and bonito flakes. Dashi should be a beautiful barely golden color.

For the miso soup:

1. To prepare one portion of soup, fill a bowl with the second dashi made above. Add the miso paste; you can add more or less to your liking. I found 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoons per bowl was a good amount. Whisk the miso around until it is incorporated fully into the dashi (it should look cloudy and beautiful!). Add tofu, wakame seaweed, and scallions. Give the seaweed a minute to rehydrate, then enjoy!

Note: you could always make this a more substantial meal by adding soba noodles and spinach.