The delicious cloudy broth you've been served in Japanese restaurants, with diced tofu and seaweed, is made with a fermented soybean and grain paste called miso.

INGREDIENTS | SERVES 4

• 5 cups vegetable or mushroom stock
• 1 piece kombu (kelp, a dried seaweed), about 5 inches square
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons light (yellow) miso, such as shiro mugi miso
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 ounces firm tofu, diced into small cubes
• 4 teaspoons wakame seaweed (instant)

1. Bring stock and kombu to a boil in a soup pot. Cover; remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Strain; stir in soy sauce.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix about ¼ cup of the warm stock into the miso paste with a wire whisk until the miso is dissolved. Pour this mixture back into the remaining stock.

3. Place scallions, diced tofu, and wakame into four bowls. Gently ladle soup into the bowls.