Miso soup and dashi calculator
How much water, kombu, bonito flakes or dashi bags, and miso to use for any number of bowls.
Enter how many bowls.
Amounts at a glance
For homemade kombu and bonito dashi and white miso. A bowl here is 200 ml, a normal side bowl.
| Bowls | Dashi | Water to start | Kombu | Bonito flakes | White miso | Silken tofu | Dried wakame |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 400 ml | 440 ml | 4 g | 9 g | 2 tbsp | 100 g | 2 tsp |
| 4 | 800 ml | 880 ml | 9 g | 18 g | 4 tbsp | 200 g | 1 tbsp + 1 tsp |
| 6 | 1.2 litres | 1.3 litres | 13 g | 26 g | 6 tbsp | 300 g | 2 tbsp |
Four ways to make the dashi
| Dashi | For each litre of water | Time | Vegan? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kombu and bonito | 10 g kombu and 20 g bonito flakes | 30 minutes soaking, then about 10 minutes | No |
| Kombu only | 10 g kombu | 30 minutes soaking, or overnight, then about 10 minutes | Yes |
| Dashi bags | 1 to 2 bags, as the pack says | 3 to 5 minutes | Usually not, as most have bonito |
| Instant dashi powder | As the pack says | A minute or two | Usually not, as most have bonito |
How to make miso soup
- Soak the kombu in the cold water for 30 minutes.
- Heat it slowly. Take the kombu out when small bubbles appear at the edge, before it boils.
- Add the bonito flakes, turn off the heat, wait 2 minutes, then strain. Do not squeeze the flakes.
- Soak the wakame in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain.
- Heat the dashi until it just simmers.
- Whisk the miso into a ladle of the hot dashi until smooth, then stir it back into the pan.
- Add the tofu and wakame and warm them for a minute or two. Do not let the soup boil once the miso is in.
- Serve straight away, with the spring onion on top.
Never boil the kombu. It turns slimy and bitter. And never boil the soup once the miso is in, as boiling dulls the flavour.
Which miso to use
White miso is mild and slightly sweet, and the best one to start with. Mixed (awase) miso is a good all rounder. Red miso is stronger and saltier, so use a little less. See our miso guide for brands and where to buy it.
More on the other parts: dashi, kombu, bonito flakes, dashi bags and tofu.
The numbers come from our own guides: 1 tablespoon of miso for every 200 ml of dashi, 50 g of tofu and 1 teaspoon of dried wakame per bowl, and about 10 g of kombu and 20 g of bonito flakes for each litre of water. Miso brands differ in how salty they are, so taste and adjust.