Kasha Soup

This kasha soup sits at a fascinating crossroads of Eastern European and Japanese cooking. Buckwheat groats, sauerkraut, cabbage, and lima beans share the pot with kombu seaweed and miso, creating a vegetarian broth with surprising depth and savory complexity.

The kombu steeps in water for 10 minutes, releasing natural glutamates that give the broth an umami backbone without any meat or commercial bouillon. Diced onions, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and mushrooms get sautéed in sesame oil until slightly softened, then everything simmers together with the kasha and lima beans.

The miso goes in at the end, dissolved in a small amount of broth first to prevent clumping. This keeps the miso’s live cultures intact (boiling kills them) and adds a salty, fermented richness that ties the sauerkraut tang and the earthy kasha together.

Chef Tips

• Dissolve the miso in warm broth, not boiling. Adding miso to boiling liquid destroys its flavor complexity and beneficial enzymes.
• Press the sauerkraut dry as directed. Excess sauerkraut liquid can make the soup too sour and overpower the other flavors.
• The kasha cooks in about 8 minutes in the simmering broth. Don’t overcook it or it turns to mush and clouds the soup.
• Chop the reconstituted kombu into small pieces. Large strips of seaweed can be chewy and off-putting in a soup like this.

Variations

• Add a splash of soy sauce or tamari alongside the miso for deeper seasoning.
• Swap lima beans for white beans or chickpeas.
• Stir in a handful of fresh dill at the end for a more traditionally Eastern European flavor.