I tried my very first recipe tonight after finishing TKD.  I am very nervous, yet excited, for my new future.  I am a horrible cook but determined to work on it, starting with TKD Dandelion, Bok Choy Miso Soup.  I found it to be very "stocky" with little broth.  Did I do something wrong or is this the norm?  Also my veggies are pretty crunchy.  Is this the healthy way and I'm use to getting Miso Soup at sushi bars, or did I screw up??? I am fairly proficient in screwing up recipes but I am dedicated for the first time so I'll keep at it.  Suggestions would be AMAZING. Thanks in advance!!

Hi Leigh 

I haven't made the soup you are talking about but I do make Miso quite a bit. I buy the red or yellow paste, add my water, tofu celery or green onions after I've simmer the Miso a bit.  I top it off with Nori in the end. So good!

Alicia's miso soup recipe does taste quite different from the one you get at japanese restaurants, mostly because it's not made with dashi (soup stock usually made with kombu/kelp and dried fish!!) You can play with the veggies you put in the soup as they will give the broth its taste and see what combination you like best. I like to use dried shiitake and add the (strained) water I used to reconstitute the mushrooms to the broth.

Warning: NEVER boil miso. Add it at the very end when the veggies are done and cook no longer than 3 minutes. Otherwise you kill its good enzymes and it takes on a slightly unpleasant taste.

I am just a newbie and want to drink the weight loss tea tomorrow. I don't have a juicer, how do I make the pulp.  I tried chopping and hoping the carrots and daikon would mush into pulp in my food processor, but no luck.  Any suggestions?

Also confused about the miso soup.  In some parts of TKD, Alicia speaks of eating the soup whenever and in other parts of the book, it states to limit the amount of miso.

Thank you.

jaye

hey jaye,

i use a grater-the smaller the better. the one i use is is about a 10th the size of a standrard grater. you can also use a ginger board. its a flat piece of plastic the size of a credit card with ridges all over it, mainly used for pulping ginger right from the root.

much nicer to munch on the stuff or swallow it with the tea when it is in microscopic bits :)

in terms of miso i also found the part confussing. i figured in the end she meant you can eat it anytime of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack) but not for every meal. limit it to once a day or a few days a wk. there is such a thing as over kill....and im sure eatting it constantly you'd probably get over it pretty quick.

good luck with the tea :)

zesters are also great for getting those fine pieces