Aka Red Miso Soup (@DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

At last the rains have come back and there is a bit of a chill in the air. To warm my bones this morning I’ve decided to try this Red Aka Miso Soup, produced by Miso Tasty. Thoughts of quotes from the movie Full Metal Jacket™ asides where the manufacturer’s name is concerned; reading the box this Aka Miso soup is popular in Hokkaido and northern parts of Honshu, in Japan.

As you can see in the photograph this Aka Red Miso Soup comes in two sachets; one full of Japanese Shichimi Spice Mix and the other Miso paste. Made from twelve month fermented rice and soybeans the Aka Red Miso Soup paste is sported on the box as having a rich umami taste. I’ll take their word for it of course, as I’ve tried Miso soup in plenty of restaurants, but not a red variety before, so this is a first for me. Their Japanese Shichimi pepper spice mix is packed with Wakame seaweed and spring onion, and citrus spices. Miso Tasty Aka Red Miso Soup promises a “warming mix of chilli, mandarin peel, sesame, nori (I thought that was a dwarf in the Lord of the Rings™!), sansha pepper, and ginger.”

So I prepared my trusty work mug (wiping the tea stains out a bit) and boiled the old works kettle. I usually use the dirty great boiler for tea, but that seemed wrong for this somehow. After squeezing out the gooey orange coloured contents of the yellow sachet of Miso soup paste, and shaking out the Wakame seaweed and diced spring onions into the bottom of my work mug, I added freshly boiled water and stirred for a short time. The contents had the consistency I’m used to of a regular Miso soup, whilst being slightly reddish in colour instead of the usual off-green.

On taste this Aka Red tastes like a rich Miso soup. Of course there’s the seaweed and spring onions dominating the flavour, but there’s also the warming spices underneath brushing up against that traditional Miso soup taste. This is a really tasty healthy feeling soup. I couldn’t fault it in a mug, asides drinking it made me slightly worried I’d choke on some of the seaweed and spring onion pieces. I’d recommend a spoon and some bread for dipping. Otherwise, just as good as any restaurant Miso soup I’ve tasted in restaurants... In fact in some cases, even better!

Information on the box;

The box consists of 4 x 20g servings, each with 45.78 calories (very precise), 1.77g of fat, 2g of sugar, and 2.06g of salt. Rich in protein and antioxidants, and with vitamin K and B12, see photograph for ingredients.