That miso paste became a very convenient ingredient to use, earning the nickname "instant paste." When made into a broth, it was an easy meal for the samurais to eat every day.

Instant miso soup is, in my opinion, one of the best-tasting instant soups, and the easiest to pack. There are no noodles to accidentally crush, and the tiny packets take up very little room.

Miso soup, or as it's known locally, "miso-jiru", is one of the foundations of a basic meal formula in Japan, ichiju-sansai, which literally means "one soup and three side dishes". That soup is ...

It’s the perfect soup. Ando, now 66, has been living in the United States since 1979 and runs his own restaurant, Benkay, in Portland, Maine. It was there that I had the best miso soup of my life.