When we crave vegetable soup but we don’t want to go through the rigmarole of peeling and chopping various vegetables, we switch to the default—miso soup. Because it is already tasty and beautifully textured, it doesn’t need a chorus of ingredients to make it sing.
It’s canned white asparagus. I’m not a huge fan of canned vegetables but we have yet to discover where fresh white asparagus is sold in this country. If it is sold fresh at all. The spinach is fresh though. Not frozen but beautifully fresh with the stalks still busting with water. A regular can of white asparagus and two handfuls of spinach leaves are more than enough to make soup for four people.
White Asparagus and Spinach Miso Soup
Ingredients
- 1 can white asparagus
- 2 handfuls spinach leaves rinsed well
- 1 packet dashi granules
- 1 heaping tablespoon miso paste
Instructions
- Drain the asparagus; save the liquid from the can.
- Take half a cup of the liquid and pour into a bowl. Add the miso paste to the liquid in the bowl and stir until smooth.
- Add enough liquid from the asparagus to measure four cups. Pour into a pot and heat.
- Add the spinach leaves and asparagus spears to the pot. Cook for a minute after the water boils.
- Stir in the dashi.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the miso.
- Serve the white asparagus and spinach soup immediately.
