Miso Soup: A Natural Medicine and Elixir from Okaya, Nagano, Japan

I drink a bowl of miso soup twice a day, every day—once for lunch and once for dinner.

The great thing about miso soup is that it can be paired with almost any ingredient. For example, vegetables, meats, fish, and bean-based foods like tofu and abura-age (fried tofu).

For lunch, I often add mushrooms, such as nameko, kikurage, and enoki, to my miso soup. For dinner, I use seaweed, freeze-dried tofu, and dried daikon radish. Additionally, I always add ground sesame, sake lees, and bonito flakes for extra flavor.

To supplement my vitamins, I never forget to add Japanese mustard spinach and spinach.

It may just be miso soup, but it’s incredibly important to me as a health enthusiast.

By the way, when it comes to miso soup, the most important element is the miso itself. There are many types of miso in supermarkets—both authentic and fake. Have you heard of fake miso? It’s processed and cheaper.

I always buy miso from a long-established miso company in Okaya, Nagano, which is my hometown. The company is called "Kitaya" and was founded 92 years ago. They make truly delicious miso using soybeans, rice, and salt from Nagano.

For me, miso soup is like a natural medicine and a natural beauty elixir.

Kitaya zhouzouten

2-3-3, Tenryucho, Okayashi, Nagano, Japan

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