As-Spicy-As-You-Want-It Miso Soup with Shrimp & Tofu

WARNING: This post involves the plagiarization of MYSELF.  I know.  I'm such a cheater.  But I want to keep current on Project Food Blog, and I just returned from a whirlwind-mini-break in California - 8-month old daughter in tow - and I'm tired and my house is in a mild state of disarray (although MC did a great job tidying up before I returned home, our suitcases have since vomited dirty clothing, baby toys and random hand-me-downs from my mother all over the floor) and my refrigerator is empty... so this is what I have to offer.  Lame, unadulterated pictures and all.  (Side note:  after eating my sisters' fantastic creations this weekend, ranging from an amazing duck cassoulet that took a week to prepare to an insanely decadent chocolate-crusted peanut butter pie that will be sticking to my waistline for years to come, I'm humbly inspired to get more ambitious in the kitchen, and that will take a little more organization and prep work, neither of which will get done until I unpack and do laundry.)

At any rate, in defense of this recycled post: (a) this recipe can use up some of that miso you bought for the Miso Chicken Piccata recipe (Lisa!), and, (b) honestly, it is worth putting on the internets twice.  It's quite yummy and, as I said when I posted it before, it's nutritious and tastes like it would help beat a cold. It's adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe from 2004 that I found online in my search for ways to use up shredded carrots. 

Miso (and so much more) Soup

Yield: Makes about 6 servings

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 t ground ginger (or 2 T fresh grated ginger)

1 ½ cups shredded carrots

5 T red miso

6 oz. baked tofu, coarsely chopped so that there are some cubes and some crumbles

1/2 lb. uncooked peeled deveined small shrimp*

1 bunch pak choy, coarsely chopped*

½ t Sriracha* and ½ t toasted sesame oil (or 1 t. hot chili oil, which is less good but that's what original recipe calls for)

(1) Bring first 4 ingredients to boil in dutch over medium-high heat. Add carrots and reduce heat to low.

(2) Place red miso in bowl or measuring cup and whisk in ½ cup hot broth. Stir miso-broth mixture into remaining broth mixture. Stir in tofu and bring to boil.

(3) Turn off heat. Mix in shrimp, pak choy* and green onions. Cover and let stand until shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in Sriracha and toasted sesame oil. Serve and enjoy.

*Some notes in hindsight: Shrimp are tasty and all, but not essential given how pricey they are. (They were $15.99/pound! For reals! - The original recipe called for a pound and a half and I bought all they had at the store, which, fortunately, only ended up being a 1/2 lb.) I added the tofu to make up for the shrimp deficit, and I think it was great, like the miso soup we sushi restaurant-goers are more accustomed to. Re: pak choy.  It was really good. If you can get it for cheap, go for it. The original recipe called for watercress, and I don't eat watercress off-season because I get enough of it from our CSA when it is in season to last me the whole year and then some. Any cookable green would do, even spinach.  And regarding the spice factor:  as much as I want to be a die-hard-spicy lady, I can really only tolerate my spice in small doses.  But if you, cool die-hard spicy person that you are, like a firey soup, go to town with the Sriracha.

Check back Friday for a REAL POST.  I'm thinking - ready for this? - CAKE.  Seriously.  I'm on it.