Fall

Turmeric-Miso Soup with Shiitakes, Turnips, and Soba Noodles

by:
January  6, 2015
4
8 Ratings
Turmeric-Miso Soup with Shiitakes, Turnips, and Soba Noodles
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Miso is a great source of vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants, and that's not to mention it has that great umami flavor that elevates just about anything it's paired with. The turmeric adds a sweet earthiness and its own anti-inflammatory and digestive properties. —Lindsey S. Love | Dolly and Oatmeal

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Lindsey S. Love | Dolly and Oatmeal is a food blogger and recipe developer from Brooklyn, NY.
WHAT: A restorative Japanese-inspired soup with an earthy kick.
HOW: Make a broth by boiling the mushrooms, turnips, and turmeric together, then add miso. Cook the soba noodles, then ladle the vegetables and broth over the top. Serve with chopped onions and microgreens.
WHY WE LOVE IT: This recipe is proof that the simplest ingredients can sometimes be the most satisfying. The combination of the hearty vegetables with the turmeric and miso provide an earthy flavor that complements the nutty buckwheat noodles. Add some extra turmeric if you prefer more spice, or do what we did and slurp this soup as is. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 medium-sized turnips, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 8 ounces)
  • 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and tops slivered
  • 1 inch fresh turmeric, peeled and grated (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried ground turmeric)
  • 4 tablespoons mellow yellow miso paste (preferably non-GMO), plus more to taste
  • 1/2 pound soba noodles
  • 1/3 cup green onions, finely chopped, to serve
  • 1/3 cup microgreens, to serve
Directions
  1. Place the turnips, mushrooms, and turmeric into a large soup pot, cover with 4 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and bring to a simmer, then cook for roughly 15 to 18 minutes, until turnips are tender, but still have a bit of a bite. Add the miso paste to a bowl, ladle 1 cup of broth from the soup pot into the bowl, and whisk until dissolved. Return mixture to soup pot, taste, and adjust by adding more miso directly to the broth, if need be.
  2. In a separate pot, bring roughly 3 quarts of water to boil, add soba noodles, and cook according to instructions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water, use your fingers to separate noodles if need be.
  3. To serve, divide the noodles among soup bowls and ladle the vegetables and broth over the top. Finish with a sprinkling of sliced onions and microgreens.
  4. To store, combine leftover soup and noodles in a container with a fitted lid. To reheat, gently bring the soup to desired temperature; if heated too fast, on too high of a flame, miso can lose some of its nutritional integrity.
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Lindsey S. Love | Dolly and Oatmeal
Lindsey S. Love is a food blogger living in Brooklyn, NY with her husband. Her cooking and baking focus on healthful gluten free and dairy free, with occasional vegan recipes. You can follow her at dollyandoatmeal.com for additional recipes.

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18 Reviews

Maaahia
Maaahia October 24, 2021
I really like this and have made variations of it with different vegetables depending on what I have. Anything green works well. I think it's important to note that fresh and dried turmeric will give you very different flavours; fresh is spicier and, well, fresher while dried is more earthy which is not everyone's cup of tea. I love it and think it goes really well with mushrooms even though it's a bit of an unusual combo. Dried shiitake work well too if you remember to soak them at the very least an hour before you need them. Also as different brands of miso taste so different and also vary in salt content I recommend taking the recipe only as a guideline and adjusting the amount based on what tastes nice to you. I usually cook the soba in the soup because I'm lazy and it's fine as long as you eat it all up because left in the soup and reheated they will become a soggy mess.
 
Natalie A.
Natalie A. June 13, 2020
I really enjoyed this soup, but I did make a couple of changes. I only used about 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric (based on other reviews 1.5 tsp sounds like too much?). I also quartered an onion and added that to the broth which gave it some extra flavour. I added some sriracha at the end for a kick, and used 1 turnip and 1 swede. It was pretty good if you want something very light and healthy for dinner. Think I only ended up using about 3 Tbsp of miso paste too. Planning on making at again this weekend
 
Nicole
Nicole January 19, 2018
I love the simplicity of this soup and I will definitely make it again. I used ground turmeric and actually added a little extra and added some ground red pepper for a little kick.
 
Mimu
Mimu January 13, 2018
Truly love this soup. Adapted it a bit though, by adding some grated fresh ginger, chopped coriander stalks and sliced paksoi. Heaven!
 
Alyssa
Alyssa November 12, 2017
Hm, I would not say that I disliked this, but I'm not sure I would make it again. I used ground tumeric, and after reading Tom's comment I just added 1/2 tsp, plus 1/2 tsp of black pepper. When initially added the miso and tasted the broth, I thought it was very flavorful. However, at the end when I was eating it with the noodles it seemed like it was lacking flavor.

I often have a problem with noodles being flavorless when I cook them outside of a soup and then add them in, but the ones I used needed to be rinsed, so there was no way around that. I wonder if it would have been better if I'd just left the noodles out entirely and added another vegetable or something. (I did add some tofu.)
 
Lisa
Lisa January 9, 2021
I’m with you. I don’t dislike it but don’t really like it enough to make it again. It’s kind of meh. Disappointing. But not every recipe works out for everyone.
 
caterfran
caterfran March 17, 2016
Since I heard tumeric is helpful for arthritis I have been adding 1/2 tsp to my miso soup which I make from white miso paste plus hot(not boiling) water. ThenI add 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Can't really say if my arthritis is actually better but I just love this hot drink. I use my instant hot faucet so it essentially done in a sec. Maybe I'll try adding more tumeric powder. I thought I invented it myself!
 
Tom B.
Tom B. February 27, 2016
I wish I could say I liked this, but I have never had a bigger miss on a Food52 recipe. I sometimes see fresh turmeric at the international grocer that I frequent, but they didn't have it this time, so I went with the dried ground version. The 1.5 tsp must be a misprint. It's way, way too much for this recipe. The result was bitter, metallic, and awful. I have an internal rating scale for recipes that ranges from 1 to 5. Recipes that result in something that I won't eat as leftovers rate a 1. That's what I give this one. I was able to rescue it by adding sauteed onions, cumin, coriander, salt, a diced potato, vegetable broth, and coconut milk. With these drastic modifications, it was acceptable, but that's an entirely different recipe. Maybe it would have been OK with 1/2 tsp turmeric?
 
Maria N.
Maria N. April 22, 2015
Have not made this yet, but will definitely attempt! Just wondering - isn't there some way to utilize the delicious soba water for the actual soup or, alternatively, to add the soba directly to the soup and cook together? I hate to waste soba water!
 
cheamcreese
cheamcreese November 25, 2015
Perhaps you've already tested for yourself, but I'll answer in case not or for others... I just made the soup with the noodles cooked in with the broth and they came out a bit gloopy and thickened the broth. Definitely going to cook them separately next time. :)
 
Rian G.
Rian G. February 7, 2016
You need to run soba under cold water so they do not need to be hot when put in the soup. Cook the soba first then combine the soba water and ingredients with any extra water that is needed. Cook that and add your soba noodles you set to the side into the broth.
 
Betty
Betty February 4, 2015
This is so amazing!! I have all the ingredients for this, and my husband is feeling a bit under the weather. I guess I'll have to make this soup for him :)
 
vvvanessa
vvvanessa February 2, 2015
This looks like something I would eat a ton of! And I just happened to have bought fresh turmeric for the first time. Can't wait to make it. Congrats on getting to the finals!
 
Lindsey S.
Lindsey S. February 3, 2015
So glad you were able to find fresh turmeric, I know it can be a bother to find sometimes. Hope you enjoy!
 
Susan W.
Susan W. February 2, 2015
I just saw fresh tumeric at my local grocery store. I can't wait to make this.
 
Lindsey S.
Lindsey S. February 3, 2015
I am so thrilled that more and more grocery stores are carrying fresh turmeric! I used to scavenge for it at multiple health food stores - so it's really encouraging to hear that it's so readily available to you!
 
Annie S.
Annie S. January 30, 2015
I tested this soup for the contest we just loved it! I found myself craving it and made another pot. I must confess that I have bought fresh turmeric and forgotten to use it before it spoils but now I will buy it and know exactly what dish it is going in! I loved this soup and I needed this soup ( arthritis)! Thank you.
 
Lindsey S.
Lindsey S. February 3, 2015
I'm so happy you enjoyed the soup, Annie! Makes my day!