Simple and quick to make, these miso soup balls are not only delicious but will help get rid of any ingredients you have lying around!

A quintessential part of Japanese cuisine is a steaming bowl of miso soup. Hearty and comforting, miso soup can be eaten with breakfast, lunch or dinner. And while it’s pretty simple to make miso soup from scratch, frozen food company Nichirei Foods recently posted a recipe for an easy-to-make miso soup ball that can be frozen for instant, homemade miso soup anytime you want!

For your standard bowl of miso soup, you need only five ingredients —

Ingredients

  • Miso paste
  • Bonito flakes
  • Dried seaweed
  • Green onions
  • Dried fu (wheat bran)

Like all the best recipes, this recipe doesn’t use exact measurements for its ingredients; instead you can just add as much or as little as you’d like to get the taste that best suits you. If you’re not a fan of bonito flakes, you can always substitute some dashi stock instead.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until you get a paste, and then take a clump and roll it up into a ball. Put the ball into some cling film/saran wrap, and you’re done!

The ball can be refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for up to a month. When you’re in the mood for some miso soup, just unwrap the ball, put it in a bowl, pour hot water on top and…

… ta da! You have a tasty bowl of homemade miso soup!

While it might take a little bit more preparation than instant miso soup packets you can buy in supermarkets, one great aspect about these miso soup balls is that they lend themselves to all kinds of customisations, and are a great way to use up any leftovers you might have hanging about in your fridge. Nichirei has even made a list of ingredients they recommend adding to your miso soup balls, like grated yam, sakura shrimp, shiso leaves, and pickled vegetables — basically, anything that is ok to freeze.

So why not try experimenting with different ingredients and make your own original miso soup recipe? You might discover a new flavour combination you’ve never thought to try before. Here are three original SoraNews24 miso soup balls we taste tested and gave the stamp of approval to. If you’re stuck for inspiration, give our balls a try!

1. Myoga, shiso and ginger miso soup

Ingredients

  • Miso paste
  • Bonito flakes
  • Myoga (Japanese ginger)
  • Shiso leaves
  • Ginger

The combination of myoga, shiso leaves and ginger gives this miso soup a zingy, refreshing taste, and is definitely different from your usual run-of-the-mill miso soup.

2. Shibazuke pickle miso soup

Ingredients

  • Miso paste
  • Bonito flakes
  • Shibazuke pickles
  • Green onion

The stars of this miso soup are the shibazuke pickles, which are eggplants that are pickled with ume plum vinegar and red shiso leaves. A popular dish from Kyoto, the sharp acidity of the shibazuke pickles goes surprisingly well with the mild, familiar taste of the miso.

The shibazuke pickles also serve as a tasty hidden surprise, as they don’t float on the surface like the green onions do.

3. Shibazuke pickle miso soup

Ingredients

  • Miso paste
  • Bonito flakes
  • Dried kelp shavings
  • Umeboshi (salted Japanese plum)
  • Japanese leek

For days when you don’t have much of an appetite, this miso soup ball is perfect. It’s warm and comforting, and it’s a great way to use up any dried kelp you might have lying around, which is high in antioxidants.

Don’t be put off if a lot of these ingredients are hard to get your hands on where you are, as you can throw whatever ingredients you have lying around into your miso soup ball. Be creative! Just as long as it’s freezer-friendly, go nuts.

One helpful tip when making your miso balls is to seal them up with a bit of masking tape. It makes them easier to extract even after you’ve frozen them, and it’s a great chance to use some cute masking tape. Similarly, it’s a good idea to put your miso balls into a ziplock before you freeze them, so they don’t get lost amongst your other frozen goods.

Frozen miso soup balls lend themselves to all kinds of fun experimentation, and are great for using up leftover food, or stuff you have lying around in your cupboards. What kind of creative culinary combos can you come up with?

Images © SoraNews24
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