What Is The Right Way To Eat Miso Soup?

When you order miso soup off of a menu, it seems like the simplest thing, right? It's just a small bowl of warm broth, often featuring seaweed, tofu, and green onions. But wait — there's more to it than just sipping away mindlessly. Sure, the simple combination of miso paste and dashi stock — a broth usually made from dried anchovies, kelp, and bonito flakes — is a delicious mainstay on Japanese menus and packed with B12 vitamins and amino acids, but did you know there's a correct way to eat it?

In the United States, miso soup is typically served in a small bowl with an East Asian-style soup spoon. But in traditional Japanese restaurants or homes, that bowl of miso soup doesn't come with a spoon at all. In Japanese culture, miso soup is meant to be consumed directly from the bowl. Instead of sipping from a spoon, you are meant to lift the bowl to your mouth. Use one hand to cup the bowl with your fingers positioned towards the bottom and your other hand to lend a little extra support. 

If your soup has additional elements, use your chopsticks to eat them. And there is no need to set the bowl down to do it. Instead, hold the bowl near your mouth, and use the chopsticks to consume the remaining ingredients. Lifting the dish in this way is considered good manners in Japan. 

Miso soup has been around for centuries  — since sometime around the year 700 CE, when miso was introduced to Japan from China. Originally, it was a luxury reserved for the wealthy, but things changed some 500 years later in the Kamakura period during the Japanese civil wars. Buddhist monks can be credited with grinding the paste and dissolving it in water to create a warm soup. That miso paste became a very convenient ingredient to use, earning the nickname "instant paste." When made into a broth, it was an easy meal for the samurais to eat every day.

Today, with the popularity of miso soup and miso paste, the dish is a part of most every traditional Japanese meal. Beyond Japan, cooks around the world have also come to understand how miso makes food better – it is no longer just used in a simple soup. From miso-butter spaghetti carbonara to miso ramen halva, it adds rich, umami flavor to a range of dishes. There are also various types of miso soups that exist today, using variations of white or red miso paste or adding different types of toppings into the broth. 

Regardless of how you like to enjoy miso, the next time you find yourself with a bowl of miso soup, do yourself a favor and ditch the spoon. Embrace the tradition, lift the bowl to your lips, and savor the warmth.