Miso Soup with Sweet Potato Dumplings

This soup has a special place in my heart for three reasons:

1. It’s my favorite soup EVER!

2. I never use the same recipe twice. The vegetables listed in this recipe are just suggestions, and when I make this I just end up using whatever vegetables I have in the fridge.

3. This was the first meal Dale and I ever made together when we started dating. I was a very picky eater at the time and didn’t even know what bok choy, edamame, and miso were. I was certain I wouldn’t like it, but instead it turned into one of my favorite meals! We made this for his grandmother who is also very picky, and she approved as well!

My favorite part of this soup is the sweet potato dumplings which give it an extra burst of flavor and sweetness. This is the most time-consuming process of the recipe, so we will start with that.

The above photo is an example of a soup that I made with whatever was in my fridge. In this case, I finely chopped all the vegetables since I had just gotten out of bowel surgery, but you can make your soup as chunky as you’d like, and you can also adjust the vegetables to your liking! The ingredients list is just a suggestion for those who prefer to have a specific recipe to follow.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sweet potatoes

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 shallot, chopped

• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 4 cups sliced bok choy

• 1 cup bean sprouts

• 1 cup edamame, shelled

• Wonton wrappers

• 3 tablespoons white miso, plus more to taste (I prefer Miso Master brand which I get refrigerated at our Natural Living Center)

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions:

For the sweet potato filling:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Prick holes in potatoes. Bake until soft, turning once, about 1 hour. Cool, then peel and mash.

3. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic and shallot, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add pepper flakes.

4. Stir garlic mixture, salt, and pepper into potatoes.

For the soup:

1. Place bok choy, sprouts and edamame in a pot with 6 cups of water and begin to boil.

2. Alternative: Chop up whatever vegetables you like and boil!

3. When veggies are cooked to your desire, remove from heat and let the soup cool to lukewarm. Add miso, stirring until it dissolves (see “important note” below).

4. Divide among bowls; top with scallions if desired.

For the sweet potato dumplings:

1. As your soup begins to cook, you can start making the dumplings.

2. Lay 1 wonton wrapper in the palm of your hand. Drop a heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture in the center and squeeze the edges of the wonton together to tightly seal. Dip your fingers in warm water prior to sealing each wrapper since this will help it stick together. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

3. Add desired number of dumplings to your soup.

If you are like me and prefer a bigger batch of soup, add your desired amount of veggies and water in the soup step and cook it like you would a regular soup. This will change the amount of miso you add at the end, which you can adjust to taste.

Important note: Miso is a fermented food, meaning it contains live, active cultures of good bacteria. Adding it to boiling water will kill the probiotics in the miso, nixing the health benefits it typically offers, like better digestive health. Wait until the soup has been taken off the heat and then stir or whisk in miso to taste. The paste-like texture will melt into the soup thanks to the residual heat of the stock. Also, don’t add the miso paste directly to your batch of soup. Instead, take some of the warm broth out of the soup, pre-mix a “miso slurry” to make sure you get all the clumps out, and then add this mixture back to the soup.