Abstract
A comparison of the salt concentration in miso soup made by the families of female students in Nagasaki and Osaka showed that it was higher in Nagasaki (1.25%) than in Osaka (0.83%). This low salt concentration in Osaka is considered to be due to the quantity of miso used, being about half that used in Nagasaki, although the salt content of the powdered stock used in Osaka was higher than that used in Nagasaki. We next studied whether the use of more concentrated stock led to a lower salt concentration in miso soup or not. The salt concentration in miso soup decreased with increasing concentration of the stock, and it was reduced by 0.16% by preparing the stock with 2-3%, rather than 0.5%, of dried bonito shavings. We found that miso soup with a salt concentration of 0.8-1.0% could be prepared by extracting 1 cup of dried bonito shavings with 1 cup of water and dissolving 2 teaspoonfuls (10cc) of miso per person.
