I’m a huge soup fan. Chunky, smooth, creamy, or noodle-y, come wintertime, I want all the soups, all the time. Thankfully, not all soups take hours to make. This corn soup, thickened with a bit of tofu and seasoned with sweet and mellow white miso, is a fast favorite once the temperature starts to dip.
my superpowerful, tiny vitamix s30. i love this guy!
I love this soup mostly because of the pairing between sweet corn and miso, but also because of the textural contrast added by the crunchy tofu, and, of course, the tofu itself! Oh, how I love tofu in soup.
It’s one of my favorite tricks, using tofu to thicken soup. Silken tofu adds body and creaminess without cream. It’s funny because I’m not remotely vegetarian or vegan, but after the fact, I figured out this soup was a bunch of those catchphrase foods trends that are so hot right now: vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free.
Mike: That was pretty tasty.
Me: Right!? And so easy! Only corn, onions, tofu and miso!
Mike: Wait – what? I ate vegan food and liked it?!
Me: Huh, it is vegan. Funny!
I may not be on the up and up with healthy food trends, but I do love something that seems to be quite popular in the kitchen: blenders. I use mine mainly for soups, dressings, and smoothies. My tiny (compared to the behemoths that are the regular Vitamixes) S30 personal-sized Vitamix is perfect for making soup for two. It’s super powerful and even heats soups up while you blend. It’s truly one of my favorite kitchen appliances and in the spirit of the holiday season I’m giving one away!
Miso Corn Soup Recipe
serves 2-3Soup
- oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 cups corn (I used frozen corn)
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 package silken tofu, about 1/4 – 1/3 cup
- 1 1/2 tablespoon white miso paste, or to taste
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
Crispy Tofu Croutons
- tofu, as needed
- oil, preferably safflower, sunflower, or grapeseed
- salt, if desired
Garnish
- sliced green onions
- crispy tofu croutons (recipe below)
- flaky sea salt
- red pepper flakes
In a skillet, heat up a small bit of oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring, until soft and translucent. Add the corn and warm through briefly. Remove the onion and corn from the heat and place in a blender with the chicken broth, tofu, and miso paste. Blend until smooth and hot if using a Vitamix. Taste and adjust the thickness of your soup based on preference. If you like a thicker soup, add more tofu, if you like a thin soup, use some broth to thin it out. If needed, return the soup from the blender to the skillet and heat up until steaming.
Make the tofu croutons: Cut the remaining tofu up into 2 cm cubes. Set on paper towels, flipping so all sides drain. In a skillet, heat up a generous amount of oil over medium high heat. Fry the tofu, flipping as needed, until golden brown and crisp, 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and season with salt, if needed.
Taste and adjust seasoning with miso and freshly ground pepper. Serve hot with sliced green onions, crispy tofu, sea salt and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
WIN ME!!!
Giveaway: I paired up with Vitamix to give away one Vitamix S30! I absolutely love mine and know you will love yours too!
Enter: To enter, leave a comment below with your favorite soup memory. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and contact them by email. Open to Canadian and US Residents only. (Sorry international friends!) Contest ends December 20th at 12AM PST. Good luck!
Update: Congrats Jenna @ Just J.Faye, you’ve won yourself a brand new Vitamix! Happy Christmas! Keep an eye out for an email from me!
My favourite soup memory is my father’s French onion soup from my childhood. I can still feel the strings of Gruyere dripping down my chin, and the Salty sweetness of the broth.
My favourite soup, which I’ve made many times, is ham and potato soup.
The first time we ever saw snow was in Chile and we were staying at a hotel where dinner was included and every dinner was a 4 course meal that began with soup. My youngest sister hated all soup and every day I remember it being a struggle to get her to eat the soup (Asian dad’s will never let you waste free food!). By the end of our stay our waiter got in or it too saying he forgot to bring her soup or giving her a bowl with just a tiny tablespoon of soup in it :)
My mom made me chicken noodle soup when I was sick when I was younger, and when I’m sick I need chicken noodle soup with Swanson broth, twisty noodles, and poached chicken. It’s funny what you get used to :-)
My mom’s borsht is the most comforting soup I’ve ever had.
Last winter, I decided I wanted to have a soup night. I invited a few friends over and we decided on this potato soup with a bacon vinaigrette (still have trouble spelling that word…), and made it our own with some Italian sausage and extra spices. I had thrown a no-knead country loaf together the night before which we threw in the oven just in time for it to finish as the soup finished and it was all glorious. :)
Years ago I took a cooking class to learn how to make soup. After that I went through a phase for a couple years when I was making soup at least a couple times a week. First I was following recipes really closely but after a while I learned to just throw together whatever I had. Usually it turned out pretty well. I don’t make soup as much as I used to but I think my little soup obsession was a real education for me and helped me be a better cook in general.
Ooh I would love to get my hands on a Vitamix! My husband’s grandmother used to make the most amazing chicken soup. Depending on the time of year it would either have noodles or matzo balls, but the matzo balls are definitely my favourite. She can’t really cook any more but my husband and I made matzo ball soup a few months ago and it was great to be able to carry that on!
My favorite soup memory was the first summer after I graduated from college. My friends and I were all learning how to cook, and decided to experiment with a chili recipe! We added not only the normal beans and meat, but also a sweet potato, and all three colors of red peppers. We even added some chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, and topped the whole thing off with mango and cilantro. It was delicious! We nicknamed it “rainbow chili” and have made it many times since then.
My favorite soup memories revolved around my maternal grandmother. Living during the Depression she learnt how to make a delicious soup from simple ingredients. One in particular was her bean and noodle soup – navy beans, homemade noodles and broth flavored with a ham bone. Simple, delicious and injected with her love.