Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Wafu (和風)

Pumpkin Soup With White Miso PasteDSC_5072

Something about warm soup on a chilly night, so comforting, loving…it’s like someone put a blanket over someone who dozed off on the couch…oh, thanks honey…no, I’m not sleeping…just closed my eyes for a second…that show is so fascinating to watch…what? it’s over?

Wafu means Japanese style. And this very successful remake of western pumpkin soup done by NHK’s Today’s Cooking. OK, basically it’s pumpkin miso soup but it’s more done than that. It has surreal deep umami flavor, pairs well with naan or rice. My husband adds a dollop of sour cream into the soup to westernize it…a little … So tell me whodunit? Really? … wow that’s wicked.

Ingredients and Instructions for 4-6 servings (Print Recipe here)

  • 600g of Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin, recommended)DSC_5044
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3-1/2  to 5 cups dashi stock -  I used 2 No-MSG dashi packs to extract strong dashi soup. See picture below. Option: Of  course you could make your own dash stock. I like Alton Brown’s version  I found it uncomplicated.
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  • 130-160 g of white miso paste (Saikyo 西京 miso is preferred)DSC_5064
  • 1-2 teaspoons of Tamari light soy sauce
  • Mitsuba 三つ葉 (Japanese honewort or Japanese parsley) for garnish if you have it
  • Seven spices 七味唐辛子 (optional)
  1. How to cut pumpkin - Remove top and bottom stems by notching with knife heel around stems first then inserting deeper with the knife tip. Wrap in plastic wrap and microwave 4-5 minutes on 60% power. The pumpkin is still hard but much easier to cut than raw. Cut in half and remove seeds and the stringy part with large spoon. Cut in sections, cube and peel off skin with vegetable peeler. See video on other method.DSC_5046DSC_5048DSC_5053DSC_5054
  2. Place 600g of pumpkin  in a pan and pour plenty of water and
  3. salt to cook for 15 to 20 minutes until soft. Option: cook and puree all pumpkin and use 600g for this recipe and keep rest in refrigerator for later use.
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  4. Drain the water. Put cooked pumpkin back in the same pan, puree with hand held mixer while it’s still hot.
    DSC_5057DSC_5061
  5. Gradually add dashi stock stirring constantly until the desired thickness is achieved. I used 4 cups of dashi stock 
  6. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Whisk in half of miso paste and do a taste test. Add 1 Tablespoon miso paste at a time to adjust flavor. I used about 150 g of miso paste.
  7. Add soy sauce, top with mitsuba, sprinkle 7 spices if you like. Serve warm. I used only 1 teaspoon of soy sauceDSC_5071DSC_5078

Variation – Make it hearty – add pork, burdock roots and matsutakeDSC_5095With connections, we got cheaper (almost $20 per pound less than in store) Matsutake mushrooms. Lucky! DSC_5037

Pumpkin JOY! Since we were left with plenty of pumpkin puree, I made a pumpkin pudding…DSC_5081FABULOUSE! DSC_5085And my husband tackled Salted Caramel Pumpkin buns…Touchdown!DSC_5090

Hi Punkin….

My daughter just had a birthday. Here she was a year old, observing my husband at a church basketball game.IMG

That was many years ago…time flew by way too fast. 

21 comments:

  1. Matsutake mushrooms! They're hard to get here . . . and very expensive. Your daughter's picture is so cute!

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  2. I am a sucker for anything pumpkin! The soup looks very creamy and tasty. I look forward to your pumpkin pudding and caramel pumpkin bun recipes!

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    1. Thank you Angie. I will try to post caramel pumpkin buns next week.

      Love your lentil salad.

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  3. Yes, 'tis the season of soup...your pumpkin soup looks so inviting and creamy! Belated b-day greetings to your 'punkin'...time flew? but you managed to retain the wonderful memories:) precious!

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    1. Thank you very much Annie. Looking forward to your new blog post.

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  4. Such a lovely, fall soup! Very hearty and filling!

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    1. Thank you so much Katerina. I really like this soup. Your chestnuts soup looks delicious!.

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  5. こんばんは。 味噌汁もカボチャも大好きです。 松茸も入って凄く贅沢ですね。デザートも美味しそうです。 1歳の娘様、とても可愛いです。きっと今でもとびきりの美人ですね。 寒くなると、暖かいスープで身も心も温まりそうです。

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    1. ありがとうございます。 とびきりかどうかはさだかではないですけど、いいお母さん、教師としてがんばっています。 自分に30過ぎの娘がいる自体、不思議です。

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  6. かぼちゃの和風スープ!出汁が効いてて美味しそう!!なんかほっこりしそうなスープですね。あぁ、日本人で良かったーっていう感じ?でもって、パンプキンのプリン!これ、食べたいです~~!いつも美味しい食事とデザート。羨ましいご夫婦です・・・・。:)

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    1. ありがとう! なみちゃんのパンプキンスープも美味しそうよ。 写真もとってもグーッド!

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  7. これいいですね。さっそく作ります。バターも小麦粉も使わず、かぼちゃの純粋ピューレでとろみが出るんですね。味付け前のを使えば孫の離乳食にもバッチリ!私はだしパックは千代の一番を愛用しています. かぼちゃプリンもおいしそう! You always made my mouth water.

    Yoko

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    1. ありがとうございます。 奈良の方は冷えてきたのでは、紅葉の写真素敵でした。 芸術的です。

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  8. Damn Delicious pumpkin soup, never had this combo, but i sure this is worth to try recipe!

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    1. Thank you Top Chef. I strongly suggest that you should be contestant in one of realty cooking shows like 'Chopped' 'Master Chef' or 'Top chef' How about that? I believe you will do awesome job!

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  9. I don't like pumpkin, but the combination with miso sounds so enticing, I would love to taste your soup! (Maybe I'd change my mind then ;-) ). The pumpkin pudding looks fabulous too! Lucky you to have cheaper matsutake! Here I cannot get them at any price, sadly... I hope to taste them in Japan one day.

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    1. Thank you Sissi! Really? You don't like pumpkin? Ha ha ha. Good luck with Japanese language study. がんばってね。

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  10. So comforting and flavorful! Your daughter was so cute.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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    1. Thank you Rosa! How are you? I hope you're doing well. I'm sure it's getting cold in Switzerland. Have you seen the snow yet?

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  11. Delicious and filling soup! The little birds are so cute!

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