Barley Mushrooms Miso
I like making soups. I want to make them all the time for dinner. It’s just like how my mom does for almost any and every dinner.
Tonight was miso, mushroom, barley soup – a very comforting combination of flavors.
I got the idea from Mark Bittman’s book, The Kitchen Matrix. There’s a section in the front for quick and easy broths. I followed the one for the mushroom broth. Then threw in the one for miso as well. Two for the price of one.
It’s one pound of mushrooms in six cups of water. Bring it to a boil then simmer. He recommends that these easy broths be done in about 5 to 10 minutes. I let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
The mushrooms I used were white buttosn, brown criminis, and shiitakes. I could’ve done without the shiitakes as they don’t boil very well. But I chopped about 1 1/4 lbs of mushrooms and threw them in the pot.
I seasoned with 2 pinches of salt. Maybe I shouldn’t have as the miso would take care of the sodium content later, but I figured that would make the mushrooms at least a bit tasty.
In a separate and smaller pot, I threw in 1/4 cup of barley. Then when the broth was done, I added 2-3 cups of the mushroom broth. I didn’t add mushrooms at that time, although if some had gotten into the broth when I scooped it, I let them go into the soup.
I boiled and simmered this mixture again for 10 minutes. I assume that, like rice, barley takes about that long to cook. Of course, YMMV but I was also going for a slightly al dente feel to the barley.
Finally, I added 2 tablespoons of white miso and chopped scallions into the simmer, stirred it around, then let it sit for another couple of minutes.
When I put it into a bowl, I added mushrooms and some black pepper. Mmm.
It made about 3 servings.
I was full on the 2nd.
Don’t have coke with this combo. Have tea instead.
The miso was purchased from South River Miso, a Vermont farm making organic miso. I bought the sampler. Their white miso is sublime.
