Kombu, a dried dark seaweed, is available in Asian specialty markets. If you can't find it, add 1/4 teaspoon salt instead. This stew is good served over hot cooked rice.
Used 2/3 as much liquid and it was STOCK. I can't imagine using water--how tasteless! Hate parsnips so left them out and used fresh shitakes instead of dried and added garlic to the onion mixture. Also browned the tofu separately and added to the soup at the very end of cooking (after vegetables were soft) so as to keep a crispy texture--sort of like crutons. So a good basic recipe that needs some tweaking.
Super healthy! Definitely a cold-weather soup that feels like it can fend off any winter ills. The broth is only lightly flavorful - maybe some extra salt on top of the kombu anyway? Loved the root veggies, especially the rutabaga. The tofu was a bit limp; next time I would saute in a skillet until very crisp on all sides, and stir into the soup last minute.
