Miso Soup With Clams Recipe

By
Mari Uyehara
Mari Uyehara
Mari Uyehara was previously a senior editor at Saveur, Time Out New York, and Martha Stewart Living Radio, and her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and Epicurious. Her column on American food in TASTE won a James Beard Award in 2019.
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Updated August 29, 2018
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Photograph: Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Purging clams in changes of salt water guarantees that no sand or grit ends up in the soup bowl.
  • Removing clams from the broth as they open prevents them from overcooking.

The briny juice of asari (Manila clams) is the star of this sophisticated miso soup, which is based on one served at Manhattan's EN Japanese Brasserie. Unlike many other kinds of dashi, the version here relies on clams instead of the more commonly used shaved bonito flakes.

Recipe Details

Miso Soup With Clams Recipe

Active 20 mins
Total 60 mins
Serves 4 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (450g) small asari (Manila clams), cockles, or littleneck clams (about 2 dozen Manila clams or cockles, or 8 littlenecks)

  • Cold water

  • Kosher salt

  • 2/3 ounce dried kombu (20g; about one 6- by 6-inch piece), rinsed in cold water

  • 3 tablespoons (50g) mild miso, such as shiro (white) miso (see note)

  • 1 tablespoon (15g) dark miso, such as aka (red) miso (see note)

  • Mitsuba or watercress leaves, for garnish

Directions

  1. Rinse clams under cold running water. Fill a large bowl with cold water, season with salt until water is salty like the sea (about 3% salt by weight), and add clams. Let stand for 30 minutes. Lift clams from purging water and discard water. Rinse out bowl. Repeat as many times as necessary until no sand or grit collects in bottom of bowl (usually between 1 and 3 times).

  2. In a medium saucepan, combine kombu and clams with 3 1/2 cups (830ml) cold water and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, about 8 minutes. Remove kombu as soon as bare simmer begins and discard or reserve for another use. (Kombu can be thinly sliced and tossed into a salad.)

  3. Continue simmering, using tongs to transfer clams as they open to a large heatproof bowl, until all clams have opened. Skim any foam from the surface of the dashi. Return dashi to a clean medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

  4. In a small bowl, whisk both misos with just enough dashi to form a thin paste. Off heat, whisk miso paste into dashi in saucepan.

  5. Divide clams among warm bowls and spoon miso soup over them. Garnish with mitsuba or watercress leaves and serve right away.

Notes

This recipe calls for two different types of miso for a more complex flavor, but if you want to use just one, omit the 1 tablespoon dark miso and replace it with 1 additional tablespoon of the mild miso.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
101Calories
2gFat
7gCarbs
14gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories101
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g2%
Saturated Fat 0g1%
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 1229mg53%
Total Carbohydrate 7g3%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 14g
Vitamin C 24mg121%
Calcium 104mg8%
Iron 2mg10%
Potassium 418mg9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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