This traditional Japanese clam miso soup is delicious and nutritious. It is perfect to serve at any meal.
When I lived in Japan, my favoriate miso soup contained delicious fresh clams. This authentic recipe starts with a homemade umami-packed dashi (fish broth) from scratch. Watch the video below for how to make the clam miso soup.
Clam Miso Soup Ingredients
- Dried kombu (kelp)
- Water
- Bonito flakes (dried shaved fish)
- Live manila clams
- Enoki mushrooms
- Wakame (dried seaweed)
- Miso
- Green onion
Nutrient-Dense Clam Miso Soup
This clam miso soup contain some of the most nutrient-dense ingredients: miso, sea vegetables, and shell fish.
Miso, made from fermented soybeans, is an excellent source of probiotics and vitamin K2. Note that we add miso into the soup near the end of the cooking process, so that we don’t kill off the probiotic microbes.
The kombu (kelp) and wakame (seaweed) contain minerals such as iodine, magnesium and calcium. Sea vegetables provide many nutrients that plants grown in soil are lacking.
Clams are amazing source of vitamin B12, omega-3, and iron.
Cooking Tips
- Kelp adds flavour into the dashi stock. Bring the kelp to a boil and then turn off the heat immediately. Don’t overcook the kelp, else it will turn mushy. Save boiled kelp for other dishes, such as stews or salads.
- You don’t need to boil the bonito flakes. Simply steep them in hot water for 10 minutes before straining.
- To rehydrate wakame, soak them in water for 15 minutes. Gently squeeze out excess water before use.
- To help miso dissolve easily into the soup, mix hot broth and miso paste into a thin sauce in a small bowl, then add the miso sauce into the soup pot. Do this near the end of the cooking process, so that the heat will not kill off the probiotic microbes.
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Japanese Clam Miso Soup
Ingredients
- 10 inches dried kombu (kelp)
- 8 cups water
- 1/2 cup bonito flakes
- 1 pound live manila clams
- 150 grams enoki mushrooms roots removed
- 2 teaspoons wakame (dried seaweed) soaked in 1/2 cup water for 15 minutes
- 7 tablespoons miso paste
- 2 stalks green onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add kombu and water into a pot, and let it sit for 15 minutes. Bring the pot to a boil. Turn off the heat, remove kombu, then add bonito flakes into the pot. Cover the pot with a lid. Steep the bonito flakes for 10 minutes. Strain the broth and discard the bonito flakes.
- Transfer the broth into a soup pot, bring it to a boil. Add clams and mushrooms, then cook the clams until they open up.
- In a small bowl, mix miso paste and some hot broth together to thin out the miso. Add miso and rehydrated wakame to the pot. Turn off the heat. Garnish the soup with green onion.
Video
Nutrition
Love how fresh clams bring so much umami to miso soup! I’ve been making a similar version with enoki mushrooms too—it’s such a great combo. Always fun to see different takes on classic recipes!