Miso soup

Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of miso paste mixed with a dashi stock. It is commonly served as part of an ichijū-sansai (一汁三菜) meal, meaning "one soup, three dishes," a traditional Japanese meal structure that includes rice, soup, and side dishes. Optional ingredients based on region and season may be added, such as wakame, tofu, negi, abura-age, mushrooms, etc. Along with suimono (clear soups), miso soup is considered to be one of the two basic soup types of Japanese cuisine. It is a representative of soup dishes served with rice. Miso soup is also called omiotsuke (御御御付) in some parts of Japan, especially around Tokyo. The type of miso paste chosen for the soup defines a great deal of its character and flavor. Miso pastes (a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and the fungus Aspergillus oryzae, known in Japanese as kōjikin (麹菌), and sometimes rice, barley, or other ingredients) can be categorized into red (akamiso), white (shiromiso), or mixed (awase). There are many variations within these themes, including regional variations, such as Shinshū miso or Sendai miso.

Source: Wikipedia