When I was thinking about appetizers I wanted to make for this last recipe this go around, I wanted to try to make something that was a bit more of an appetizer for a meal rather than it being an hors d’oeuvre to snack on like our previous recipes this month. And so, after ordering some Japanese food the other day, I thought it would be fun to replicate the classic Japanese Ginger Carrot Salad & Miso Soup that typically gets served before the main course.
Interestingly however, the salad and soup being served as an appetizer seems to be more of a Western practice, with Japanese restaurants in America, Canada, and Europe adopting the French style of serving food. But in Japan, salads and soup are typically served as side dishes alongside the meal or as a transition meal between the small dishes and main dishes in the traditional multi-course Kaiseki-style of serving dinner. And also, it does seem that the ginger carrot salad seems to be more of a Western invention as well.
But for the miso soup, this dish is a classic staple of Japanese cuisine, often being consumed as part of an ichiju-sansai (一汁三菜) or ‘one soup, three dishes’ meal, consisting of rice, soup, and side dishes. And because of its simplicity in terms of flavor and preparation, miso soup is often included in breakfast, lunch, and dinner to stimulate the appetite, promote healthy digestion, and bring a sense of warmth and comfort to the meal, with its delicate flavors serving as a prelude to the main dishes. And this, alongside the acidic, sweet, and tangy salad with crunchy vegetables acts as a nice contrast and helps to awaken the palette and makes the main course taste even better.
But regardless of if you serve these as appetizers or if you enjoy them as side dishes for a full meal, this delicious salad and soup will be a great way to whet your appetite and provide a great way to reset your palette so you can enjoy your entire meal even more.
Ingredients:
- For the salad dressing:
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 inches ginger
- 1/2 carrot
- 1/2 shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp or 1/2 lemon’s worth of juice
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp water
- For the salad:
- 1/2 carrot
- 1/2 shallot
- Some cucumbers
- Some leafy greens
- For the Miso Soup:
- 2 cups water
- 1-2 tsp dashi powder
- 1-2 tbsp yellow, white, or red miso paste
- 1 package silken tofu
- Some green onions
- Some dried wakame seaweed (optional) (if you can find it, but I couldn’t find any at my grocery store but I did find this instant miso soup mixture that had some in the mix, so I’ll be using this but it’s definitely not necessary if you can’t find it for your soup)
Step 1: Prepare Ginger Carrot Dressing for Salad
First, we’ll prepare the ingredients for the dressing, so for the ginger, carrot, and shallot, peel these and roughly chop these into pieces to make it easier to blend up. Then in your blender or food processor, add in your oil, rice vinegar, ginger, carrot, shallot, garlic, soy sauce, tomato paste, sugar, lemon juice, sesame oil, and salt and blend these until all the ingredients are pureed and emulsified, until the mixture is mostly smooth.
Step 2: Thin Out Dressing If Desired; Then Transfer to Airtight Container for Up to A Week
Then, once your dressing is blended up, add in some water if you want to thin it out some and then transfer this into an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to a week until you’re ready to use it.
Step 3: Combine Water & Dashi Powder & Bring to Boil; Prepare Green Onions & Tofu
Next, for the soup, in a pot, combine the water and dashi powder over medium-high heat and bring this to a boil. While you wait for this, thinly slice your green onions and cut your tofu into small 1/2 inch cubes.
Step 4: Once Boiling, Add Tofu & Dried Wakame; Turn Off Heat & Dissolve Miso Into Broth; Heat Back Up But Do Not Boil
Once your water is boiling, add in the tofu cubes and dried wakame seaweed (if you have it). Then, turn off the heat. Next, for the miso, slowly dissolve it into the broth by whisking it.
Then, bring the miso soup to a light simmer, and then turn off the heat again. We want to serve the soup hot, but we don’t want to boil it after you add the miso since you’ll end up killing a lot of the flavor.
Step 5: Serve Immediately in Bowl, Garnish w/ Green Onions; Add Leafy Greens & Veggies to Another Bowl, Add Prepared Ginger Carrot Dressing, & Enjoy!
But, once your soup is ready, serve it immediately in a bowl and garnish with the sliced green onions. And for your salad, slice up your vegetables if needed and in a bowl, add in your leafy greens and other veggies and top this with your dressing, and with that, your Japanese Ginger Carrot Salad & Miso Soup are ready to eat.