Miso Clam Soup

Clams are hands-down one of the easiest things to prepare but they always feel kinda fancy and impressive, especially when you’re serving them to others, and this miso clam soup is a great example of that. I love the natural umami of clam stock and using it for the base of a miso soup highlights the savory clam juice. Since clams naturally live on the ocean floor, it’s important to first purge them of the sand in their feeders before cooking by soaking them in a salt water bath. After that, they’re delightfully plump beauties.

I used:

• 1 lb manila clams
• 2 thin slices of ginger
• 1/4 cup cooking sake
• 1/2 block tofu (I used firm but I think soft works even better!)
• 2-3 tbsp white miso paste (I used 2 so the clam flavor shines but increase if you want it more miso-y)
• mirin
• scallions for garnish

To prep the clams:

• remove any clams that are already opened (these ones are dead, we don’t want them)
• soak clams in a large bowl with 1 cup water and 1/2 tbsp of sea salt for 30 minutes
• at this point you should see sand pool at the bottom
• rinse with fresh water and lightly scrub the shells to remove any additional dirty residue

To make the soup:

• combine 3 cups water, sake, and slices of ginger in a medium-sized bot and bring to a boil over medium heat
• add in the tofu and clams and cover and cook until the clams open up ~3-5 minutes
• turn off heat and dissolve in miso paste using a strainer (if you don’t have a strainer, first dissolve miso paste in a separate bowl with hot water so it doesn’t get clumpy in the broth). I also like to add a little splash of mirin here.
• garnish with scallions and serve!