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Kabocha Squash Miso Soup

Name: Kabocha Squash Miso Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 6 cups dashi stock (or 6 cups water + 1 tablespoon dashi stock granules) (*); 500 gram (~ 1 lb.) kabocha squash, cut into wedges (**); 1/2 onion, diced; 1 packet (400 gram) silken tofu, diced; 2 tablespoon dried wakame seaweed, soaked in plenty of cold water to soften; 6 tablespoon white miso paste (***); 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Last updated: Oct 4, 2017 — Published: Oct 4, 2017 — By: Anita — 5 comments

When kabocha squash is in season, try adding some kabocha cubes into your miso soup. You will love their bright orange color and their heartiness in your soup.

Miso soup is a versatile soup, it can take on any vegetable and it will still come out delicious. When fall comes and the markets start selling kabocha, it is time to grab some home and make this lovely kabocha squash miso soup. Of course, if your market doesn’t sell kabocha, you can use regular pumpkin, or butternut squash too.

Ingredients to Prepare Kabocha Squash Miso Soup

What goes into kabocha squash miso soup?

Here are what I consider must-haves for this soup:

kabocha squash/pumpkin
onion
tofu (silken is best, but firm tofu is okay too)
wakame seaweed
dashi (Japanese stock)
miso paste

Dashi is Japanese stock. For the best result, you can try making your own dashi. But for convenience, you can use instant dashi powder/granules too, such as:

hondashi. This has bonito fish in it.
kombu dashi. This is made with kombu kelp and is suitable for vegans/vegetarians.

My favorite is to make vegetarian dashi from dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu kelp with this easy recipe:

25 gram dried shiitake mushrooms
25 gram dried kombu kelp
6 cups cold water

Soak dried shiitake mushrooms and dried kombu kelp in cold water overnight. If possible, place a plate over the bowl to make sure both shiitake and kombu are all fully submerged.
The next day, remove shiitake and kombu from soaking water. Strain the liquid to remove any dirt, and use the soaking liquid as homemade vegetarian dashi.
You can use the shiitake and kombu in any recipe that calls for them.

How to cook kabocha miso soup

The step-by-step is like this:

Boil together dashi stock, kabocha squash, and onion in a soup pot. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until kabocha is tender but firm. About 10-15 minutes.
Add silken tofu and wakame to the soup and turn the heat to medium-high. Once it boils, turn off the heat.
Place miso paste in a strainer, then lower the strainer into the hot soup and stir with a spoon until all miso paste in the strainer is incorporated into the soup.
Serve miso soup hot garnished with thinly sliced scallions.

A strainer is miso paste best friend

In my early years of making miso soup, I always had the trouble of diluting my miso paste into the soup. Later, I found out that most Japanese put the miso paste into a little strainer. Then, at the end of the cooking time, they lower the strainer into the hot soup and stir with a spoon to dilute the paste into the soup. It’s one of my aha moment, and I thought it is a nice little trick to share :)