Miso soup

A Japanese soup made by dissolving miso paste in dashi broth, often with tofu, seaweed, or scallions. Its flavor comes from fermented soybean paste and savory stock.

Kombu: An edible kelp used in Japanese cooking, especially for making dashi. Its glutamates contribute a foundational savory taste to many versions of the broth.
Koji: Grains or legumes cultivated with Aspergillus oryzae to produce enzymes used in Japanese fermentation. Its enzymes help create the fermented paste that flavors the soup.
Japanese cuisine: The culinary traditions and foodways associated with Japan. Miso soup is a widely served preparation within Japanese meals.
Miso: A fermented paste, usually made from soybeans with salt and koji, used to season Japanese dishes. The soup’s name and defining seasoning come from this fermented food.
Katsuobushi: Dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna shaved into flakes for Japanese cooking. Its flakes are steeped with kombu to make a common dashi for the soup.
Umami: A savory taste associated with glutamate and certain nucleotides. Miso and dashi combine sources of savory compounds in the broth.
Ichiju-sansai: A Japanese meal pattern organized around one soup and three side dishes, alongside rice. Miso soup commonly fills the soup role in this meal structure.
Dashi: A Japanese stock commonly made from kombu seaweed and dried fish flakes. The development of dashi made a distinct, light broth base for the soup.
Tofu: A food made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the curds into blocks. Small cubes are a frequent protein-rich addition to miso soup.
Glutamate: An amino acid whose free form contributes a savory taste to foods. Fermented miso and kombu dashi both provide glutamate to the soup.

Linked from 2 pages

Hot and sour soupCompared with: It is another tofu-containing East Asian soup, but its defining flavor comes from fermented soybean paste.