Macrobiotic Cabbage & Shiitake Miso Soup

Good day people,

Today it's all about the Japanese Macrobiotic healing foods love.

Seaweed and Macrobiotic goodness, this recipe originally hails from Kristina Turner's Macrobiotic Self-healing Cookbook/Workbook. It's actually two decades old but is, in my opinion, one of the best introductory Macrobiotic books on the market. It is a favourite and I refer to it often, especially when I am cleansing. I feed this recipe to Macrobiotic newbs and unsuspecting meat mouths, they all really enjoy it and go back for second helpings and a doggie bag of it. I changed the original from barley to a gluten-free friendly version. It's delightful and I recommend making it a day in advance as it tastes better the second day.

MACROBIOTIC CABBAGE & SHIITAKE MUSHROOM SOUP

Ingredients:

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

1/4 tsp sesame oil

6-8 Cups water

1x 6" strip of kombu (seaweed)

2-4 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in warm water for an hour then chopped

1 carrot diced

1 stalk celery with leaves

1 bay leaf

1 Cup green cabbage diced

1/2 Cup brown rice cooked

2 Tbsp Rice miso

Method:

-Place strip of kombu in a bowl and cover with water, soak 15-20 minutes. Once soaked, chop into pieces (see pics).

-In a blender, blend rice with 1 Cup water for 30 seconds, keep aside.

-In a soup pot on medium heat, heat oil and then sauté onions for a few minutes until soft.

-Add carrot and celery, cook for 2 minutes stirring often.

-Add garlic cook 30 seconds then add mushrooms, kombu and water. Stir.

-Add rice water mixture, bay leaf, and stir.

-Bring to a boil then simmer for 45 minutes.

-I will sometimes add a peeled & grated burdock root and an organic vegetarian herb stock cube but this is a personal choice. If you use one or both add it at this point, stir it well, then add cabbage and cook 15 minutes more.

-Leave on burner and turn off heat, after 15 minutes stir in the miso. Never add miso to boiling or super hot items as the heat kills off the beneficial gut bacteria and enzymes. I will often leave out the miso until the next day when I re-heat it, as I prefer the richness and intensified flavour that improves overnight.

I would not recommend freezing.

Enjoy!