Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Japanese Soul Food

I wasn't the first person to call our national soup our soul food, but when my dear epicurean friend, Ted, called the miso soup the Japanese soul food, it totally and absolutely hit the spot. When I am sick, I crave it. When I am sad, I am nourished by it. I feel every part of my genetic make-up agreeing with the flavors and the depth of aromas of the soup. I sense co-evolution of my pleasure receptors and the nature of the miso soup itself - we've been at this for a long, long time. The soup has been formulated to fit my genetic make up and my genetics have been selected to appreciate this soup.

miso
OK, OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration. But since I've been sick for the last two weeks with the sniffles and colorful 'goodies' in my throat, I've really been feeling the need for miso soup. It's always been like that. When I am sick, I don't want chicken noodle soup. I want miso soup.

My most vivid memory of the rejuvenating qualities of miso soup date back to my first year in college. For some reason, I caught a whole lot of colds, and whenever I did, it was always a trip to a local Korean-owned Japanese restaurant that was my magic cure-all. I'd go in there for some California rolls (with that Krab that I've somehow learned to appreciate) and that bowl of miso soup. It was nothing like the rich, deep soups I'd grown up with in Japan, but it sure was therapeutic. Cured me in a few days, I'd say!

My hometown of Nagoya is known for thick, rich, salty Red miso, which is what you see represented here. Kyoto, the Japanese culinary center, has a totally different kind of miso, and actually, every region of Japan has their own favorite kind of miso. It's amazing that a paste of fermented soy beans has become such a cultural phenomenon, but that's just the way we are in Japan - we take gastronomic delights seriously!

Oh, how I need some good red miso to beat this deadly cold for good!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

miso soup...
It is good and special for me.
My father's favorite miso was dark-brown miso.
(He was born in aichi prefecture.)

ted

Anonymous said...

Aliceちゃん、日本語でコメントできるか
ドキドキです~。(←意外と気が小さい)笑

味噌汁。。。大好きー!!
深酒でヘロヘロになった朝は、何も食べたく
ないけど、味噌汁なら、胃に入ってゆきます!
元気が出ます!!

私の出身の北海道は「白味噌」で、甘めです。
赤飯も甘いのがあるし、納豆にも砂糖を入れたり
するんだよー。

東京暮らしが長くなると、郷土の味が合わなく
なってきちゃったよ。。。

Alice said...

Ted-san,

Thanks for the comment! Yes, the dark -brown red miso is the spirit of Aichi!! As a Aichi-native, I LOOOVE the rich, deep, saltiness!

修子さん、

日本語コメント、大歓迎ですよ! 北海道の白みそ、京都の白みそと比べるとどうなんでしょうか? 名古屋人の私はやっぱり赤みそ好きなんですけど、京都の優しい白みそも実はだいすきなんですよー!

Anonymous said...

I wonder how often a soup dish is considered the "soul" dish for different cultures.

I like miso soup very, very much, though. It's very nourishing. We'll have to head over to a Japanese restaurant very soon to get you some soul nourishment, Baby Bear.