misoshiro & fried tofu

My neighbor taught me how to make a chicken and vegetable misoshiro. It's supposedly a winter soup, but it was really cold and rainy earlier this week, so it was just the thing to make.

First we need some supplies so we went to the supermarket where they play super happy elevator music versions of classic rock and cheezy 80's hits. I get a kick out of that place. The ingredients include: chicken, shitake and buna-shimeji mushrooms (aka beech mushrooms), carrots, potatoes, a leek, white miso, kombu (a kind of seaweed), tofu, dashi (a soup stock) and a few small peppers.

As a side dish we made some fried tofu. It's pretty simple. First, cut up the tofu. We made the pieces small so that they'd cook quickly. We were really hungry. Fry the tofu in vegetable oil. Flip the pieces so all sides brown. Then put them on some paper towels to soak up the oil. Top the tofu with finely shredded daikon (a big radish), bonito flakes, seaweed, soy sauce and some rice vinegar.
The place where I can make food in my apartment can hardly be called a kitchen. It's super small; so small that my neighbor and I had to utilize both of our kitchens just to make dinner. The misoshiro came out great, the tofu was really yummy, and it was a lot of fun to hang out and cook with my neighbor.