Sourish miso adds an oriental flavor to everybody’s favorite – chicken soup.

Ingredients:

• 75 g cooked chicken meat
• 800 ml light vegetable stock or dashi ( a Japanese stock available from Japanese supermarkets)
• 3 tbsp miso
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
• 2 tsp soy sauce

Instructions:

1. Thinly cut the chicken meat. Heat the stock in a saucepan and add in the chicken. Dilute the miso with a little of the hot stock in a cup to give it a creamy consistency, then stir back into the chicken and stock. Add the spring onions and keep the soup hot, without allowing it to boil, for another 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Squeeze a few drops of juice from the grated ginger into the soup to taste. Pour into bowls and season with soy sauce.
3. For a completely vegetarian dish, substitute 250 g of firm bean curd for the chicken. Cut the bean curd into 16 equal sized cubes and divide between the soup bowls. Pour over the miso soup and serve.