Easiest Miso Soup Ever

There's a recession. A worldwide economic crisis, even. Yesterday, the Dow sagged below 10,000 and is down another 500 points today. I have both credit card debt and what used to be a large investment portfolio. I work in two industries, education and the arts. I have no full-time job; I teach and write grants for a living. Financially and professionally, this is not a good time.

And so, I'm feeling poor. And feeling poor makes me hungry. And feeling hungry and poor makes me feel pathetic. When I'm feeling poor-hungry-pathetic, I think of soup. This is appropriate for three reasons:

1. Soup is cheap.
2. Soup is satisfying.
3. Soup is comforting.

This means that soup, being cheap-satisfying-comforting, is the functional opposite of poor-hungry-pathetic. And that's a damn good reason for me to think of, and subsequently make, soup.

My favorite soups are the easy soups, and this miso soup version absolutely wins the Lazy Chef award for Simple and Somehow Still Amazing. My grandmother taught me a much more involved version of this soup; I will note these additions in italics.

Fifth-Generation Japanese Lazy College Student Turned Starving Artist-Educator in Worldwide Economic Crisis Miso Soup

• Make 8 cups water nice and hot, but not quite boiling.
• Dump in 1 packet dashi-no-moto.
• Dump in 1/4 cup miso paste, doesn't matter if it's red or white or yellow or whatever. Just use the one you have on hand. Add more to taste. I usually throw in an extra tablespoon or so, 'cause I like it kinda strong.
• Slice up some white or yellow onion thin as tissue and throw in half a handful.
• Slice up some green onion and throw in half a handful.
• Peel daikon and slice thin. Cut into bite-size pieces. Dump in.
• Cube a whole brick of tofu and dump it all in. I like the soft kind, but I have to add it close to the end of the cooking process and remember not to stir too much or I end up with soft tofu confetti all up in my otherwise lovely soup.
• Boil several araimo (AKA dasheen) for 5 - 10 min. Skins should then peel off easily. Add them to the pot near the end of the cooking process, so they don't dissolve. 
• Turn the heat down so there isn't any violent bubbling. Gently crack 4 eggs into the soup, laying them in so they stay mostly intact.
• When the daikon is translucent and the eggs are cooked through the way you like them, your soup is done.
• Garnish with more green onion and some sliced kamaboko too, if that's your thing.

I keep sliced white/yellow onion and sometimes sliced kamaboko in little Ziploc baggies in my fridge. I keep sliced green onion in the freezer. I use them for throwing into saimin and somen salad, but they make miso soup prep almost unnecessary.

Some additions to try: 

• fresh garlic, crushed and minced
  
• freshly cracked black pepper
• cubed carrots
• cooked rice, after serving

Grandma's version of this soup is much more ambitious, but it truly makes the soup a meal. I remember requesting this (and only this) for one of the birthday dinners my family threw for me. At the time, I was living in the dorm at UH Manoa, going to college full-time, working two jobs, and rehearsing at the theatre every night. I was starving for food that tasted of the slow comfort of Grandma's house in my childhood. This soup is totally that.

Recession be damned. I'm thrifty-satisfied-comforted.