Creamy sweet potatoes, spicy ginger, and sweet and salty miso all meet in this easy, delicious soup that we've been enjoying the last few days. Technically it's a braise - the potatoes are lightly fried with the onions, garlic and ginger until just beginning to brown then simmered in a covered pot with broth until tender. It's thick, creamy, and bright.
Sweet Potato Soup with Miso and Ginger
makes about 2 quarts
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 2-inch chunk fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced - about 1/4 cup
3 large sweet potatoes, about 2 1/2 pounds - peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons light miso
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, or water
1 cup whole milk
Salt and pepper
Cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Raise the heat a little and add the ginger. Fry until the ginger is fragrant, but don't let the onions and garlic brown at all. Add the sweet potatoes and miso and continue frying a bit, then add the broth or water. Bring to a simmer then cover, turn the heat to low and let it cook for about 25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft. Take off the heat and puree in a blender or with an immersion blender.
Return to the heat and warm, whisking in the milk and salt and pepper to taste. If it's too thick, whisk in a little extra milk until you get the consistency you want.
(Image: Faith Durand)
Re-edited from post originally published on March 20, 2007
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Sounds so wonderful. I'm not ready to let go of hot creamy soups for the heat of Spring and Summer yet, so I will probably give this one a try.
I wish I could find miso sold in a small tube. I don't really use it enough to justify the tubs they sell at the Asian grocery stores.
me either verily -- squash specifically ;)
Miso lasts a looong time - I've had mine for at least 2 months and it's still good. I've also seen them at Whole Foods in smaller tubs, like 1/4lb size, which might work better for you.
I made this last night and used Soy Ginger Broth (from Trader Joe's) for almost half the liquid and it really brought out the ginger flavor. Very tasty recipe - thanks!
I made this last night and it was delish!
I bought a clove of garlic for this recipe but it never made it home with me. Must've escaped at checkout. Oh well, just a quarter.
I suppose the dish turned out milder without the garlic, but it was nicely light and sweet w/ hints of ginger. I wound up using a Texas 1016 onion so that probably helped increase the sweetness.
Thanks for the tip on Whole Foods, 2T. That little tub was perfectly sized and not very expensive to boot. I think I can manage to use up the rest of the miso over the next few months.
What's miso?
I just finished making this soup, and it is incredibly tasty!
Instead of buying a tub of miso, I actually bought a kit for making white miso soup at my local asian grocery store. It had little foil wrapped packets of miso and I just used a couple of those so I didn't have to buy a huge container of miso.
Also, I made this soup with 2% milk instead of whole milk because it was all I had. I just used a little extra milk and a little less chicken broth to compensate, and the soup still has a nice, creamy texture without being heavy.
I'll definitely be making this again!
nice
This sounds yummy! I bet it would be good with coconut milk.
silly question - i know what miso is, but where the heck do you buy it? didn't have any luck trying safeway or whole foods (asian foods aisle) here in dc. found miso soup mix packets, but not any tubs like other posters mentioned. are we looking in the wrong aisle at whole foods, or should we hit the asian grocery stores instead?
if anyone can't find miso in their mainstream stores- try going to a specialty store or going to Trader Joes or Wholefoods. it comes in a tub.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso
Just buy a tub of it - it will last a long time and it is cheap.
In the mainstream grocery store - I'd look in the section where they keep the tofu refrigerated near the produce. It won't be in a non-refrigerated aisle (I don't think).
Miso is in the non-refrigerated Asian food aisle at the Treasure Island grocery store, so if you can't find it near the tofu, try looking near the rice noodles and other nonrefrigerated Asian foods. Mark Bitten says it <a href->"keeps almost forever in the refrigerator"</a> and I know I've kept tubs (bought in the nonrefrigerated aisle, but refrigerated after opening) in the fridge for more than a year without any issue.
This sounds delicious! Maybe I'll try it tonight.
Thanks, all, for the clarity of miso lifespan. I've been wondering about the tub in my refrigerator.
www.emblemorstain.blogspot.com
I made it this evening, It was really good....Quick question, What's the best way to store the leftovers?
I made this tonight because I love all the ingredients. BUT--1/4 cup of sliced ginger does NOT equal a two inch chunk of ginger root. 1/4 cup is WAY too much, and that's all I can taste--not garlic (4 cloves?) not onion, not miso, not NOTHIN'! I'd suggest cutting back the ginger to 1 TBSP and going up from there. I'm trying this again, because it's such a good thick creamy cold weather soup--it could be great.
This looks so good. We have a recipe for Ginger Miso Soup but the addition of the sweet potatoes sounds delicious. Can't wait to try!
This sounds wonderful. Sweet potatoes are great in the winter and the warmth of the soup is perfect for cold days. I made a very similar soup where sweet potatoes were the main event:
http://coldcerealandtoast.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/sweet-potato-soup-with-kale/
Just made this and it is excellent. It has a very complex flavor and a light spicy aftertaste (which I think is the miso). Quote from my wife "this is so good, I'm not missing that we don't have bread".
I have a giant csa sweet potato that is going to be enough for the entire recipe... Very excited to try it. ;-)
Wayyy too much ginger, otherwise amazing recipe, as salken mentioned above. Is there any way to tone down the ginger? PLEASE HELP! I'd hate to have to not be able to eat this delis soup...
This sounds delicious! But cooking miso like this will destroy all the benefits of it. You shouldn't even boil miso, let alone fry it and simmer 25 minutes. Miso is full of healthy bacteria (like yogurt is) that are alive...so DONT ADD THE MISO UNTIL THE VERY END! This is standard practice and an error in this recipe.
When the soup is ready, remove some of the broth in a separate bowl and whisk the miso in to combine. Then add it back into the rest of the soup and stir to combine (otherwise you'll end up with chunks). It's also wise to wait and salt the soup until the very end, since miso is very salty. Smitten Kitchen has a similiar recipe for carrot soup with miso and sesame with a better method, check that out.