This is a Chinese version of the Japanese miso soup. A clear soup which is very versatile. You can add meat, fishballs, seafoods or just leave it plain.
I did mine by making a pot of chicken stock. Take some chicken bones, carrots,  a piece of smashed ginger, a few pips of garlic and add a bowl or two of water. Boil it for a long time until the bones and meat separates. Then, sieve the soup, take only the clear soup. And the carrots for some colour. Discard the bones.
Meanwhile, soak a quarter piece of dried seaweed (chi chai) to soften it. Over here, the seaweed is sold in a round, flatten piece the size of a large plate.  Do not use too much because the seaweed will swell. Do not let the seaweed overpowering the soup.
Add any type of things you like. Spring onions, Chinese parsley, fish fillets, chicken meat, prawns, some lettuce or whatever is available. I had mine with some button mushroom and tofu, cut into small cubes. Season with salt and pepper. A good soup to accompany meals with white rich, loaded with iodine.
I tried taking a pic of the seaweed but they turned out so black, there is nothing much to see. Now, I wonder if anyone knows how to make miso soup? I like something that is not too salty. I heard we just need to buy the soya paste but what is the name of the paste in Japanese?
Yap. You just buy the miso paste at the fridge section that sell Japanese food stuffs. The paste is packed in a 500g pack with either picture of miso soup or a boy sitting beside the pot of soup…
The japanese word is “Way Chen”.
Easy peasy lemon squeeze.
Method:
1) Bowl two bowl of water.
2) Scoop one spoon of miso soup paste.
3) Add japanese seaweed and soft taufu.
4) Ready to drink the soup..Yummy…
TehSee
Teh See – Lucky you tell me only one spoon or else I pour in whole packet, salty until all my hairs also dropped. LOL. Tks
I also like to cook seaweed soup which is very cooling and nutritious. To get rid of the strong smell of seaweed you can fry the seaweed with a little oil and 2 pips of whole garlic before you pour in the stock. The ones from Korea are thicker and tasty.
For more flavor to the miso soup you can try adding a bit of ikan bilis granules.
Japanese Miso Soup uses Dashi Stock as the soup base. You can check it out here http://japanesefood.about.com/od/misosoup/a/aboutmisosoup.htm
This one I cook with minced pork rolled into “guli”-sized balls. Use ikan bilis stock. Super simple soup to cook and highly nutritious, hor?