I had always understood miso to be a part of every meal in Japan, but after talking with several of my Japanese friends and co-workers overseas, I discovered they don’t really hear much about miso except occasionally when they may eat out at a Japanese restaurant. I don’t want to be rude and press for more info, so I thought I would just post the question here. How often is miso actually a apart of meals amongst Japanese in today’s world?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/16luqeh/curious_about_how_often_miso_soup_is_actually_a/
46 comments
Probably every day.
Comes with my lunch every day at the office (or occasionally a different soup, but usually miso). Also a part of most traditional set meals at Japanese restaurants, and people generally make it once or twice per week at home with dinner. But busy young people tend to make quick dinners or eat out/eat non-Japanese food a lot, so it’s certainly less often than previous generations. That’s my take anyway.
Pretty much every night in my house
Takes 5 minutes to make so why not, right?
It depend on generation. Overall, 67% eat miso soup two days a week or more according to a [survey](https://www.myvoice.co.jp/biz/surveys/15903/index.html#:~:text=%E5%91%B3%E5%99%8C%E6%B1%81%E3%82%92%E9%A3%B2%E3%82%80%E9%A0%BB%E5%BA%A6%E3%81%AF,%E9%A0%BB%E5%BA%A6%E3%81%8C%E5%A4%9A%E3%81%84%E5%82%BE%E5%90%91%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%80%82&text=%E5%B8%82%E8%B2%A9%E3%81%AE%E5%8D%B3%E5%B8%AD%E5%91%B3%E5%99%8C%E6%B1%81%E3%82%92%E9%A3%B2%E3%82%80%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AF75.8%EF%BC%85%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%80%82) in 2011
Young people living alone would be far less than that.
I found a more recent(2021) [research](https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000002984.000001594.html) .73% eat them 2 days a week or more.
Another [source](https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20170517-a219/). 68% eat them 2 days a week or more in 2017. All different surveys using different method from different year showing similar numbers means they are probably pretty accurate.
My in laws make it everyday, for breakfast and dinner because everyone has lunch at office.
My parents have them every day.
Probably 4 times a week. Sometimes more, never less
I probably eat miso soup, at minimum, twice a week.
A wee bowl of it served with absolutely everything at my school cafeteria. Pretty common to get it in many restaurants if you get a set meal too. Its definitely going to be seen as an “older” food in terms of traditions, but its a pretty strong mainstay.
Misoshiru and natto are a daily fixture in our household. My wife cracks it if the kids don’t get their daily fix.
Breakfast every day.
A lot of houses it’s close to daily, though I’d guess younger single people may not eat it quite as much. My MIL makes it essentially every day
Winter time every day. When I was living in Gifu it came with lunch as well. Summer not so much cus you know heat and soup don’t make good bedfellows.
Some families eat it every day without fail. Some people almost never eat it like you said. Some people might have it a couple times a week.
I’m in the latter group. I live with a fairly traditional Japanese family and we have some kind of soup or broth with every meal. It’s often miso but not every day.
My ex-husband would have it once or twice a week.
Every time I’m invited to my gf’s house her mom would serve it as a part of the meal, though I’ve also been told that they don’t always have it if she isn’t making a “full meal” or they have non-Japanese food.
For context we’re in the US and my gf is a 2nd gen Japanese American
It’s even served on JAL (maybe also on ANA) international flights as an additional option to coffee and tea
What does Miso soup taste like anyway? (I’ll only be able to know this answer in April)
At least once everyday.
I make it every meal when I cook, same goes for my parents/grandparents. Then again some of my younger friends can care less about shiru mono. Probably a combination of personal preference + family or not (maybe hassle for just one) + generational
Yes I have it almost everyday
My wife makes it for dinner more than half the days in a week, easily.
If you have a traditional Japanese breakfast, it would be part of that too. That’s probably less common now. But as an accompaniment to dinner it’s very common, at least in our household.
In my house every single day
It’s a breakfast staple for sure.
At least several times a week.
I was fortunate enough to live with a Japanese family on their homestead in rural Kyushu for a month (and again a few years later for a week). We had miso soup for several meals per day, almost every day. It was almost as natural as having a glass of water. When we didn’t have it they would apologise for the lack of it. So I think it depends a bit on where and how you live as well. They were a bit more traditional when it came to food.
Most home-cooked meals in Japan (that aren’t Curry Rice, Pasta or Noodles in soup) have the “three sisters”: miso soup, rice and pickled vegetables (tsukemono).
Maybe your friends didn’t want to give you a stereotype like “all we eat is rice and miso soup”?
A lot of Japanese people eat some version of it with every meal they possibly can.
You might be thinking of miso soup which in family household happens a lot. I think one to consider is how it might be integrated into ingredients. For example, miso ramen? Or it might be cooked into some kind of protein. Miso paste itself is used as an ingredient for many things so the framing of the question might have been off. It’s certainly not everyday but it’s used quite commonly.
I worked for various Japanese companies. The ex-pats living overseas are often solo males, either single or with family left back in Japan (e.g. kids in school).
Japan is still big on gender roles, so a lot of these guys have never cooked much, and although it’s a simple dish, it’s something that Mom (or their wives) usually make for them. And like chicken soup, it’s not always so easy to recreate Mom’s.
So they eat it whenever they are in a restaurant where someone else makes it for them. At least, that is I perceives it!
iirc Matsuya doesn’t offer it if takeaway.
I used to live with a Japanese woman for a year and she made miso soup most days of the week. It was never the main dish though. That was 15years ago. I got so used to it that I am still cooking miso soup every 2 day. It’s just such a healthy easy to make and very satisfying side dish.
My mother in law cooks miso soup every single morning and then again at dinner.
My husband will have it either for lunch or dinner probably like 4 times a week. We also have other soups with dinner on other nights so we have some kind of soup pretty much every day. He says it doesn’t feel like a full meal without soup.
Almost every day when I’m at parents in law house. Just like rice, it’s something that practically always available.
Every two days… out of choice, so I don’t burn out on having it.
My wife makes it everyday… breakfast and dinner
if you in the hospital you definitelty getting a lot of miso soup
Depends on the family, I’d imagine. My mom would make miso soup with almost every meal. Understandably though, it can be pretty time consuming to make from scratch. As far as my family goes, we would have miso soup rather often. There were days where we didn’t have miso soup. It’d depend on the meal we were having.
Nowadays with accessibility to a variety of foods, it’s not something that needs to be had with every meal.
In the cooler months, every day.
It’s such a breakfast food for me. Leftover rice and miso soup, with a cracked egg and soy sauce. On the days I don’t do oatmeal or a more american style breakfast.
I use the bonito flavored miso, some soy sauce, and some rice vinegar. Sprinkle in some furikake. I don’t eat tofu that much, but that’s one way to use up tofu. In fact, it’s a great way to use the never ending packets of soysauce that accumulated in my house. When I did this, I used every last soy sauce packet!
It’s mostly only a breakfast meal actually. Miso can be eaten at any time of day and the ingredients differ depending on region, but in Tokyo it’s considered a breakfast. I usually make my fiancé (who is a Tokyo native Japanese ) Ochazuke for breakfast but sometimes I will make miso soup and grilled fish or something.
Miso soup mixed with rice is referred to as “cat food”.
I make it pretty regularly with a lot of veggies. It’s a good way to fill up on a budget and be relatively healthy. Been told I don’t add enough miso nowadays. It’s a pretty common thing to have if you are cooking at home and want some amount of healthiness in your diet. Also, it’s quick and easy if you’re using instant dashi powder.
Miso culture is slowly dying. So much do that miso companies have had to start producing other foods. It’ll never go away completely but it’ll never be what it was during Showa.
It’s usually part of the meal if you’re having a Japanese meal with rice. When cooking Chinese food, maybe some Chinese soup or no soup. When eating pasta some western soup or no soup. Or miso soup if you’re having Japanese style pasta. When eating noodles in broth, like soba or udon, there’s usually no miso soup. If you’re having nabe (hot pot) usually no miso soup. There are also “clear” Japanese soups without miso eaten with Japanese meals.
Morning and evening used to be the case in our household