Jun 23

Jun 23 Low Sodium Miso Soup

Recreate your favorite savory soup without the extra sodium. As requested by viewer, LiamStrong in Tallahassee. Yes, you can request recipes, vegetables, & techniques! Send your ideas here.

His mom asked: "My 6 year old son has a bad kidney disease. He loves miso soup and chicken fried rice. Both are so high in sodium. Can you post a low sodium recipe we could try?"

Absolutely! I did some research on low sodium miso soups and it turns out, Eden Organic’s Shiro Miso has the lowest sodium content I could find - including misos labeled as low sodium. It’s a very mild miso made of soybeans and rice. However, since it’s so mild, the flavor of the soup will be different from the miso flavor you’re probably used to. It’s worth noting that miso flavors vary across the board between each brand and each type anyway, so no matter what kind of miso you use, you’ll have a period of getting acclimated to the flavor.

I’m using the recipe on the back of the packaging and I have some ideas for increasing flavor.

This recipe makes 3-4 servings.

1 tsp dried Wakame seaweed
2 cups water
2/3 cup onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup carrot, thinly sliced
2 tbsp Eden Shiro miso, pureed in 2 tbsp water, or to taste
1/4 cup green onions, finely sliced

Optional ingredients: tofu, shiitake, maitake, leafy greens, daikon, lotus root, leeks, root vegetables, cooked noodles, or mochi

We’ll start by soaking the seaweed in water to rehydrate it for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil, and add in the carrots, onions, and wakame. Let those boil together for 5-7 minutes. Then lower the heat to very low, and add in the miso. Let this barely simmer for two minutes. Then you can garnish your soup with green onions.

I expect using a homemade vegetable stock or even a mild chicken stock will add more flavor to this. Since the miso is so mild though, it’s possible a stock could overpower it. This miso is 330 mg of sodium per tablespoon, so depending on your sodium situation, you could increase the miso in the recipe for more of that flavor. You could also sprinkle in garlic powder for a little more depth or season the soup with white pepper.

The carrots and onions do make this sweeter than your normal miso. Hopefully it’s a flavor you like! *I also removed the onions from the soup before serving.