- “Something
Different”
- A FRESH TAKE ON A CLASSIC SOUP
BY DANA JACOBI
- FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE
FOR CANCER RESEARCH
French Onion
Soup requires a long simmering period to allow its flavors to
build slowly. Japanese miso soup is ready in minutes. So what
might they have in common? The answer, surprisingly, is miso.
A savory, peanut
butter-like paste made from soybeans, miso ranges in color from
creamy ivory to earthy black-brown. It can be used many ways
in Japanese cooking, but primarily to make a pale gold or deep
russet soup. Miso's flavor can also take several different forms,
but generally has a salty-sweet taste or even a slight meaty
flavor, like beef broth.
Which brings
us to Miso Onion Soup. Classic onion soup recipes, like the one
in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, get their
flavor from deeply browning the onions, then adding wine and
beef broth. By using the same technique for the onions and adding
miso, you can make a golden brown, fabulously flavorful onion
soup. When I serve this soup topped with the traditional toasted
bread and grated Parmesan cheese the few people who notice a
difference want the recipe.
Supermarkets
offer several kinds of miso. For onion soup, I use brown rice
miso (sendai in Japanese) or red (aka) miso. Mellow barley (mugi)
miso is good, too. You must cream the miso before adding it to
the soup. This simply means combining it in a small bowl with
an equal amount of liquid by mashing the miso with the back of
a spoon against the side of the bowl until it dissolves. If you
don't cream the miso, it forms tiny balls that never dissolve
in the hot liquid. Stored in the refrigerator, miso keeps for
a year or more. Use it to make regular miso soup, and to increase
the flavor in other soups and stews.
Miso Onion
Soup
- 2 Tbsp. canola
oil
- 3 peeled Spanish
onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon-style
mustard
- 3 cups fat-free,
reduced sodium beef broth
- 1 tsp. dried
thyme
- 5 cups water
- 1/4 cup brown
or red rice miso
- Salt and freshly
ground black pepper
- Six 1"
thick slices whole-wheat Italian bread
- 1/3 cup freshly
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Heat the oil
in large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add onion,
stirring to coat them with oil. Cover tightly, reduce heat to
medium low and cook until onions are wilted, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle sugar
over onions and stir in. Increase heat and sauté until
onions are well browned, about 12 minutes, stirring often with
a wooden spoon to scrape up onions as they stick to pot. Remove
from heat. Scrape the bottom of the pot vigorously to gather
up all the browned bits. Stir mustard and thyme into the broth
and add to pot. Add the water. Return heat to high and cook until
liquid comes to a boil. Reduce the heat, partially cover the
pot and simmer until the onions are very soft, 30 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile,
brush bread on both sides with remaining olive oil. Grill bread
or toast it in 400° F. oven. Set aside to cool. When cool,
cut into rough cubes with a sharp, serrated knife.
Place the miso
in a small bowl. Gradually stir in about 1/4 cup of the soup,
mixing until well blended. Stir the mixture into the soup. Season
to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, ladle
soup into deep bowls. Sprinkle top with toasted bread cubes.
Sprinkle 1 scant tablespoon cheese on top, if using.
Makes 8 servings.
Per serving: 124 calories, 5 g. total fat (less than 1 g. saturated
fat), 17 g. carbohydrate, 4 g. protein, 2 g. dietary fiber, 732
mg. sodium.
__________
“Something Different”
is written for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)
by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy of Soy, and recipe creator
for AICR’s Stopping Cancer Before It Starts
AICR offers
a Nutrition Hotline (1-800-843-8114) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday-Friday.
This free service allows you to ask a registered dietitian questions
about diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR is the only major cancer
charity focused exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition
and cancer. It provides a range of education programs that help
Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk. AICR also
supports innovative research in cancer prevention and treatment
at universities, hospitals and research centers across the U.S.
It has provided more than $65 million for research in diet, nutrition
and cancer. AICR’s Web address is www.aicr.org. AICR is a member
of the World Cancer Research Fund International.
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ARTICLE POSTED
APRIL 06, 2004 |
WHAT'S NEW?