Asari no misoshiru / miso soup with clams

A very easy miso soup full of aroma and flavor. Plan ahead, as clam prep takes a bit of time.

1/2 of recipe:
33 calories; 5.1 g protein; 0.4 g fat; 1.8 g carbohydrate; 1.7 g net carbs; 274 mg sodium (with reduced-sodium miso; 297 mg with regular miso); 10 mg cholesterol; 0.1 g fiber


<Ingredients>

10 asari clams (sand removed and cleaned, see Notes; 220 g in photo)
1 green onion (green section)
300 cc water
3/4 tsp miso


<Directions>
1.

Thinly slice green onion.

2.

In a pot, put water and clams.

3.

When pot is steaming, wait for a few minutes while watching for overflow.
Check, and remove any clams if shells have not opened.

Remove white foam on surface.

4.

Take some broth and loosen miso.

Add miso to the pot, and mix. 

5.

Serve in individual bowls, and sprinkle green onion.

<Notes>

• Clam prep: Remove sand from clams by soaking them in salted water -- covered to shut out light so clams become active -- for 2 hours to overnight, rub shells against each other, rinse, drain, and let sit for 1 hour before cooking.
• Do not cook clams too long, as this would make them tough. When clam size varies or if unsure how long to cook, turn off heat (or remove pot from heat if using a thick-walled pot) and keep covered when more than half of clams in pot have opened. Wait some time and check again.
• Sodium content of clams varies significantly by region. The above figures are based on USDA data (average of 12 locations); based on data from Japan, sodium numbers would be 496 mg/473 mg. In both cases, shells are estimated to make up 70% of total weight in the calculations above (weight of clam meat is assumed to be 66 g in the recipe above).

(Last updated: April 9, 2014)