Fall is drawing very near and with it come chilly breezes and dropping temperatures. Doesn’t it just make you want a nice bowl of soup? I know I crave soups during this time of year and my favorite soup to eat and make is miso (pronounced mee-so) soup. I’ve maintained for a long time that miso soup is good for the soul. It’s great for your body, too!

Miso is a dense paste made of fermented rice and soybeans. It is super salty and has a unique flavor. It dissolves easily in hot liquids and therefore makes a perfect soup broth. But what’s fascinating about miso is that it is a LIVING food! Miso is alive and well and contains natural digestive enzymes, healthy bacteria, and other microorganisms that aid in healthy digestion.

But most people make a huge mistake when making homemade miso soup!

Most people add their miso paste to their pot when the water is boiling – but since miso is a living food, it can be killed at certain temperatures – and the temperature of boiling water is plenty to kill a fine young batch of miso. And believe me, you want your miso to be alive when you eat it because the living qualities of the miso are also the healthful qualities and to get the maximum health benefits from miso, it needs to be alive when you consume it.

This is very simple to achieve. After you are done boiling your seaweed or mushrooms or tofu or other goodies you’re adding to your soup, remove the pot from the heat and allow the water to cool for a few minutes. Then stir in your miso paste. This way, the temperature of the water drops enough to not kill your miso, but the water remains hot enough to successfully dissolve the miso and satisfy that chill in the pit of your stomach. Everyone’s happy.

As a general rule when making miso soup, use about 2-3 teaspoons of miso per cup of water. You can add anything you like to a pot of miso soup, but the traditional ingredients are simply tofu and a seaweed of your choosing, like Wakame or Kombu.

So pick up a package of miso today and start experimenting in the kitchen! Like I said before, you can really add anything to a pot of miso soup, so the possibilities are endless. Just take good care of your miso and make sure it’s still alive when you eat it – believe me, it won’t mind!

Happy Fall to you all!