This Cabbage and Onsen Tamago Miso Soup is a hearty and flavorful soup you can easily make in 15 minutes or less! We’ll use the microwave to make the silky poached egg (onsen tamago) and speed things up, but the result is just as satisfying.
Have chilly spring days? Need a quick soup lunch? This Cabbage and Onsen Tamago Miso Soup is perfect for warmth and coziness.
The broth is savory, filled with tender strands of sweet cabbage and anchored by a ‘hot spring’ egg that oozes creaminess, melding beautifully into the soup when you break it open. Certainly not quite the same as the classic miso soup you’re familiar with but more satisfying.
Hearty yet light, flavorful yet simple, warming yet uplifting—this soup has everything I crave. I’m sure it will also have the same effect on you, so make it soon!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It requires only pantry or refrigerator staples, and it’s a delicious soup to make when you have leftover cabbage.
- With protein and a good dose of vegetables, this soup is a fabulous standalone quick lunch or a simple dish to pair with rice.
- Just 15 minutes is all you need.
What is Onsen Tamago?
Onsen refers to hot spring, while tamago means eggs, so onsen tamago translates to ‘hot spring eggs’ in Japanese. Fancy as it sounds, it’s a poaching technique to create silky egg whites and custard-like yolks.
The typical method is to poach the egg in the shell in hot water (see and read my original recipe), but today, I’ll show you how to make onsen tamago in the microwave! Yes, you might call this cheating, but the result is still excellent, and it certainly saves a lot of time on busy days. You can make onsen tamago in less than 2 minutes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dashi packets – This is the easiest and most convenient way to make dashi (Japanese soup stock). I use the Kayanoya brand, which you can get on Amazon or from Japanese grocery stores.
- Water
- Green cabbage – You can use napa cabbage.
- Onion – You can omit this if needed.
- Sliced green onion for garnish
- Miso paste – Any type will do. See my brand recommendation on our Pantry Page.
- Optional seasonings for a spicy and peppery kick: shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice), Japanese sansho pepper
How to Make Cabbage and Onsen Tamago Miso Soup
Detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card below. Here’s a quick summary.
Jump to Recipe- Add water, sliced onion, and dashi packets to a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 4–5 minutes. Then, discard the dashi packets.
- Add the cabbage and cook, covered, until the onion and cabbage are tender, about 4–5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the onsen tamago in the microwave. Immediately remove the eggs from the cooking water.
- Turn off the heat for the saucepan and stir in the miso paste until dissolved. Taste and adjust.
- Serve the miso soup in individual bowls and add the poached egg on top. Garnish with chopped green onions. Sprinkle with shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) and Japanese sansho pepper, if you like a spicy, peppery kick.
Recipe Tips
This is such an easy recipe, but here are some key points to remember when cooking it.
- Make dashi using a dashi packet or make it from scratch. I always recommend avoiding dashi powder, especially when making miso soup, because the flavor is much weaker than dashi made with a packet or from scratch.
- Cut the onions and cabbage into uniform pieces. This way, the ingredients will finish cooking simultaneously, not like some pieces are more undercooked than others.
- Add miso paste right before serving to enjoy its best flavor and aroma!
- Adjust the microwave time and power to cook onsen tamago to your liking. The shape of a microwave-safe bowl matters. The recipe card provides more details.
How to Store
Generally, it‘s best to consume all the miso soup immediately because it will lose its aroma and taste as time passes. If you like keeping the leftovers, let your miso soup cool to room temperature and refrigerate. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for 2 weeks. However, if you add tofu to our miso soup, remove it before freezing, as the texture will change.
If you want to make a big batch to store for later, it‘s best to refrigerate the soup without adding the miso. When ready to use, add the miso paste only for the portion you need.
What to Serve with This Hearty Miso Soup
As I mentioned, it makes a great lunch soup to accompany a simple bowl of rice or fried rice. I like to add a side of natto to amp up the nutrients. You can also serve the soup as part of your dinner, especially in an ichiju sansai (one soup, three dishes) format.
- Rice: Japanese White Rice, Brown Rice, Fried Rice, Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls)
- Main: Teriyaki Salmon, Butter Shoyu Chicken, Salmon in Foil, Gyoza (Pan-Fried Dumplings)
- Sides: Quick Korean Fresh Kimchi, Natto, Everyday Japanese Pickles
Let’s Cook Miso Soup for Miso Day
In January 2024, I started sharing a new miso soup recipe on the 30th of every month to encourage and inspire readers like you to enjoy the soup as part of your diet. The idea came about because the 30th day (三十日) is read as misoka (みそか) in Japanese, which initiated Miso Day (味噌の日).
You have probably heard about the health benefits of miso soup, and I’m glad you are here to learn more about this staple of Japanese cuisine.
There are many ways to prepare it, so check out my collection of miso soup recipes!
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Cabbage and Onsen Tamago Miso Soup
Ingredients
- ¼ onion
- 3 cups water (for the dashi; you can substitute Awase Dashi or Vegan Dashi and skip the dashi packet)
- 2 dashi packets (in a pinch, you can use dashi powder; skip for vegan/vegetarian)
- ⅛ head green cabbage
- 3 Tbsp miso (any type; plus more, to taste)
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
For the Garnish
- 1 green onion/scallion
- shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (optional; for a spicy kick)
- Japanese sansho pepper (optional; for a spicy kick)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. I made 2 onsen tamago (silky poached egg) today.
- Remove the core of ¼ onion and cut into thin slices.
- To a medium saucepan, add 3 cups water, the sliced onion, and 2 dashi packets. Cover the saucepan with a lid and bring it to a boil on medium heat.
- Remove the core of ⅛ head green cabbage and cut into small, ¾-inch (2-cm) squares. Discard any tough, dense pieces or reserve them for other recipes. Alternatively, you can add them to the saucepan earlier than the leafy parts to give them extra time to cook and soften.
- Cut 1 green onion/scallion in half widthwise and diagonally cut into thin slices.
- Once the water is boiling, shake the dashi packets with cooking chopsticks to release more flavor. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 4–5 minutes. Then, discard the dashi packets.
- Add the cabbage and cook, covered, until both the onion and cabbage are tender, about 4–5 minutes.
To Make the Onsen Tamago
- While cooking the onion and cabbage, prepare the onsen tamago with 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell). We‘ll poach one egg at a time. First, crack 1 large egg in a small, microwave-safe glass bowl. Use a bowl similar in shape to a standard rice bowl or miso soup bowl that‘s rounded and somewhat deep with sides that go straight up. Next, pour some water around the edges of the bowl, pushing the egg to the center.
- Pour enough water on top of the egg yolk to submerge it completely. I use a total of 100 ml of water for this particular bowl. Then, gently puncture the yolk with a toothpick to keep it from exploding during cooking.
- Place the bowl at the edge of the microwave tray. Microwave at 500W (I use half power or P5) for 90 seconds, or until the egg white JUST solidifies and turns white. The egg yolk should be pinkish and runny at this stage since it takes longer to solidify than the egg white. DO NOT OVERCOOK. If your egg white is still transparent, microwave for 5 seconds more and check again. The poached eggs should have silky egg whites and custard-like yolks.
- Immediately scoop out the onsen tamago with a slotted spoon, drain the cooking water, and transfer it to a small bowl. Don‘t keep the egg in the cooking water, as the remaining heat will continue to cook it. Repeat the same process for the remaining eggs.
To Add the Miso
- When the cabbage is tender, turn off the heat and add 3 Tbsp miso: Put the miso in a ladle, add hot stock to the ladle, and stir with chopsticks to dissolve completely. Alternatively, you can use a fine-mesh miso strainer and/or a miso muddler to dissolve it faster. Next, taste the soup and add more miso if needed. If it‘s too salty, add water or dashi (if you have any) to dilute.
To Serve
- Serve the miso soup in individual bowls, place the onsen tamago on top, and garnish with chopped green onions. Sprinkle with shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) and Japanese sansho pepper, if you enjoy a bit of a spicy kick.
To Store
- It‘s best to consume all the miso soup right away because it loses aroma and taste over time. If you‘d like to keep leftovers, store the soup and onsen tamago separately. Cool the soup to room temperature (no longer than 4 hours), store in an airtight container, and keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer. When ready to use, reheat in a pot over medium heat, but do not boil. Store the onsen tamago in an airtight container for 1–2 days in the refrigerator. When ready to use, bring to room temperature. To heat it further, place the container with the egg in another bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Do not reheat more than that; otherwise, the heat will cook the egg.
I learned so many things in your channel thank you so much ❤❤❤
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We hope you’ll continue to enjoy Nami’s recipes. Happy cooking! 🥰