Shiitake Egg Miso Soup

     Sometimes, the body craves to be fed certain foods unconsciously.  Miso soups are popular for breakfast in Japan.  If you think about it, soup broth is the easiest item for a body to digest.
     There is no use in eating heavy carbohydrates in the morning, because the energy from a high carbohydrate meal takes many hours to be converted to energy.  Long distance runners load up on carbohydrates the night before a race, not the morning of a race.
     Sugary sweet breakfast food provides immediate energy that has the effect of a quick acting drug.  The body reacts to sugar like it is a drug or unknown substance, then the body quickly converts sugar into energy.  The quick morning sugar energy shock does not last long.  People who eat high sugar content breakfasts to get a jump start on a day, usually suffer a sugar crash or a loss of energy when the sugar high starts to fade.  If more sugar is consumed to get over the sugar crash, then a possible cycle of sugar dependency is created.
     Good stable old fashioned dinners that include root vegetables, grains or pasta will provide plenty of energy for the next day.  Evening nutrition from a dinner helps the body to repair itself during sleep.  What does the body really crave in the morning, if carbohydrates were consumed the previous evening?  Nutrition and muscle building protein that helps awareness, endurance and performance!  Miso soup for breakfast is a good source of nutrition and protein.  The Japanese figured this healthy nutrition cycle out a long time ago and that is why miso soup is a popular Japanese breakfast!
     Miso soup is a perfect Saturday morning soup for recovering after a hard week of work and it does help the body recover from a long night of partying on a Friday night!
     Greasy American diner breakfasts are not a very good way to start a day.  Imitation butter flavored hydrogenated oils, "mystery sausage," highly refined carbohydrates and rancid greasy bacon are not my idea of a good healthy breakfast.  Hard cooked greasy fats are very tough on the digestive system as well as the circulatory system.
     There is such thing a good fats.  Good fats for the body are usually cooked gently.  Easy to digest good fats can change their composition and become heavier hard cholesterol sources by being cooked at high temperatures for long periods of time.  Soft cholesterol profiles are less harmful than hardened cholesterol profiles and that is a factor in choosing to order a steak that is cooked medium rare, rather than well done.  Pork that is cooked to smithereens contains hard artery clogging fat molecules, while tender lightly cooked pork is easily digested.  How pork or beef is cooked for breakfast can make the difference in whether the meat is healthy for the body or not!
     A dashi broth for miso soup is cooked rapidly at a high temperature for a short time, to release nutrients into the broth.  The temperature is reduced to a simmer before the miso paste and optional meat ingredients are added.  Nutritionally speaking, a cooking method like this is perfect for morning meat proteins and eggs.  Soft egg yolks have a less harmful cholesterol profile than hard cooked eggs yolks.  Soft egg yolks also have more immune system strengthening benefits.
     Today's miso soup recipe for breakfast has complex proteins from shiitake mushrooms, nutrition from dashi broth and a soft cooked egg.  This miso soup will leave you feeling healthy all morning!
    
     Sun Dried Anchovy Dashi Recipe:
     This recipe makes 1 portion of soup!
     Boil 2 1/2 cups of water in a sauce pot over high heat.  (The liquid will reduce slightly when boiling.  That is why the extra water is needed!)
     Add 1 small handful of sun dried anchovies.
     Add 1 small handful of chopped rinsed salt packed wakame seaweed or chopped reconstituted dried kombu seaweed.
     Boil the dashi broth for ten minutes. 
     Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a second sauce pot. 
     Discard the anchovies and seaweed or use them in another recipe.
     Place the broth and sauce pot over medium low heat.
     Add 4 to 5 drops of soy sauce.
     Add 3 to 4 drops of sesame oil.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger.
     Add 1/2 of a minced garlic clove.
     Add 2 very thin sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms to the miso soup.
     Add 1 small pinch of sea salt and white pepper.
     Gently simmer the shiitaki dashi broth, while the egg is being poached.
    
     Poached Egg: 
     Heat a small saute pan over medium/medium high heat.
     Add about 1 1/4" of water to the pan.  (Only add enough water to partially cover the egg, so the yolk is exposed to the air and it remains a bright yellow color.)
     Add 2 pinches of sea salt.
     Bring the water up to a gentle boil.
     Place 1 egg in the hot water.
     Poach the egg, till the egg white is firm and the yolk is still uncooked. 
    
     Shiitake Egg Miso Soup:
     Stir 1 tablespoon of miso paste into the simmering shiitake dashi broth.
     Simmer the soup for 1 minute while stirring.
     Ladle the shiitaki miso soup into a shallow soup bowl.
     Use a slotted spoon to set the poached egg in the center of the soup.
     Sprinkle a little bit of thin sliced green onion around the egg in the soup.
     This soup is delicate tasting and healthy!  Mild tasting shiitake mushrooms add a pleasant flavor to this miso soup breakfast.  Yum!  ...  Shawna