When it comes to making miso soup, there are two ingredients that you need to include. The first is the dashi, and the second is miso paste.
Without these two ingredients, you won’t have a dish that is remotely close to miso soup or anything that could be called a soup for that matter.
These two ingredients are where a lot of the savory and rich flavor of miso soup comes from, so it is important to not forget them!
Where can I buy dashi and miso paste?
If you don’t feel like taking the time to make them yourself, you always have the easy option of going out and buying premade dashi and miso paste. Often these ingredients can be found in your local grocery store. To be more specific, you’ll usually find dashi and miso paste in the Asian aisle of your grocery store.
If for some reason your grocery store does not have an Asian aisle or the selection in the aisle is terrible, you also have the option of purchasing these ingredients from a special store that sells Asian food and ingredients specifically.
Of course, if all else fails you will likely be able to find dashi and miso paste on Amazon. As odd as that option may sound, Amazon offers an impressive selection of ingredients and non-perishable food. One or more of the options above will allow you to get the dashi and miso paste that you need.
Can’t I just buy miso paste that has already been mixed with dashi?
Generally, that isn’t an option when it comes to making miso soup. Dashi and miso paste are very different ingredients and they are not necessarily something that can come premade.
This is especially the case since both ingredients are very different in their consistency. Miso paste is, as the name implies, a paste. Dashi, on the other hand, is like a soup stock so it has a more liquid consistency. Though this isn’t always the case since instant dashi powder is also sold at stores.
That said, it is often easier just to buy the dashi and miso paste as is. Then once you have both you mix however much you need in order to make the miso soup. Obviously, the amount you need will depend on how much miso soup you are making, but you will need to make sure that you have these two ingredients to accomplish that.
Also read: this is dashi infused miso paste and how to use it
