Japanese Summer Dinner with Seasonal Vegetable Dishes and Corn Cob Broth Miso Soup

Japanese Summer Dinner with Seasonal Vegetable Dishes and Corn Cob Broth Miso Soup

As I made the delicious raw corn-cucumber soup yesterday, I had left over the special broth from the corn cob today. When you take the raw corns out from the cob, it is too pity to just waste the cob, because after simmering it in boiled water for about 10 minutes, you can get a beautifully sweet and flavorful broth. This was the initial inspiration for our dinner today. For what do I want to use this broth…? Miso soup!! It brings such a gentle and sweet flavor to the miso soup when you make it with this broth. It is special because you can eat this only in this season. It is like a ritual to make a soup with the corn cob—another way to appreciate the season through food.

So, I decided to celebrate the summer season through Japanese food this evening. Using the seasonal fresh and local vegetables is such blessing for a cook. It brings so much joy and inspiration.


Today’s Menu

  • Brown Rice (Click here to learn how to cook delicious brown rice.)
  • Miso soup with wakame and tempeh and corn cob broth (Basic recipe for miso soup here)
  • Sautéed zucchini and onion
  • Fermented cucumber and steamed pumpkin salad with tofu mayonnaise
  • Fresh arugula from the garden with fermented tomato sauce

Miso soup with wakame and tempeh and corn cob broth

You can learn the basic recipe for miso soup in this article. To make this miso soup, you substitute the corn broth to the regular broth. I cooked little slices of tempeh with the broth, added miso, and put the soaked wakame on top after serving the soup. The most important thing is: once you put miso into the broth, you don’t want to boil it any more, so that you can keep the miso’s enzyme as alive as possible!

Sautéed zucchini and onion

This is an absolutely simple and delicious dish. Sometimes, when I want to make a very simple and easy meal, I make this dish, put it on top of the rice, then avocado on top of that, and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds. It is amazingly delicious! Cut both zucchini and onion in small pieces. You can also prepare some minced garlic upon your mood and wish. Sauté the onion (if you use garlic, then with garlic) in the heated pan with clear sesame oil. Once the onion becomes translucent, add the zucchini and sauté further. You can add a little amount of salt to allow the water from the zucchini to come out so that the flavor becomes more concentrated. At the end, you pour soy sauce and mix, then turn off the heat. I prefer to add soy sauce towards the end when sautéing, because I want to keep the aroma and flavor fresh.


Fermented cucumber and steamed pumpkin salad with tofu mayonnaise

I am crazy for this dish. It’s only this season when I can enjoy this. You can find the recipe on the article “Midsummer dinner with Cucurbitaceae family!” This time, I used a larger amount of tofu mayonnaise to eat a little more tofu. As the salad became so creamy as well as more visually beautiful, I laid lettuce leaves underneath. In this way, you can roll the last bit of creamy remaining salad with these lettuce leaves at the end, which is very delicious!

*Update October 15, 2021: I made an another version of this salad’s recipe here. With this recipe, you don’t have to use the fermented cucumber. I wish many of you can enjoy the deliciousness of this salad!


Fresh arugula from the garden with fermented tomato sauce

So simple, but this was a wonderful addition. Everything becomes so much more flavorful when making with fermented food! The fermented tomato sauce has brought magic to this salad, and it went with arugula so perfectly. (Fermented tomato sauce’s recipe: here)



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