So last Tuesday I tried my favorite hobby in a different way – making miso soup while solving those mushroom crossword puzzles my aunt mailed me. Sounds weird, right? But man, it actually did some surprising things for my brain and my cooking.
The Starting Disaster
First off, I got all the stuff. Kombu seaweed, dried shiitake, miso paste, tofu – you know, the basics. Chopped the mushrooms small like you’re supposed to. But see, while chopping, I got bored.
That’s when I saw the mushroom crossword sitting by the kettle. Grabbed a pen. Started staring at clues like “Japanese mushroom (6 letters)” while waiting for my kombu to soak. Easy, right? Shiitake. Wrote it down. Then suddenly smelled something funky. Water had boiled over big time! Leftover kombu bits floating everywhere. Total mess. Rookie mistake.
Getting into the Groove
Second try, I promised myself to stay sharp. Kettle on, but immediately sat down with the puzzle. Puzzling feels boring at first, but then your brain kicks in.
- Clue: “Slimy fungus often in soups (4 letters)” – Nameko! Duh.
- Another one: “This mushroom improves soup flavor (8 letters)” – Maitake!
While racking my brain for “Popular miso soup mushroom (8 letters)” – Enokitake! – I stirred the broth without even thinking. Added the mushrooms when they needed it. Looked away from the puzzle for a sec – perfectly cooked shiitake!
Felt weirdly focused. Like my hands were prepping tofu while my brain solved clues. Multi-tasking without actually multi-tasking. Just gliding between tasks.
The Lightbulb Moment
Here’s when it clicked. Tasted the soup. Needed more salt. Usually I’d just chuck in salt or maybe soy sauce and call it good.
But the puzzle had just asked for “Miso base flavor booster (6 letters)” and I remembered: KATSUO (bonito flakes). Not in my original plan, but what the heck. Sprinkled some in.
Tasted again. Bam! That was it. The umami went way deeper. Puzzle taught me something useful while I cooked.
Final step: Dissolving the miso paste. Did it gently off-heat – remembered how doing puzzles slowly gets you better answers too. Hurrying makes garbage soup.
After That Bowl…
Ate the soup. Solved the last clue (“Type of tofu often cubed” – KINU! Silken!). Didn’t burn anything. Didn’t undercook mushrooms. Actually noticed flavors better while puzzling – salty, savory, earthy notes jumped out more. Puzzle clues about ingredients stuck better. Weirdly satisfying.
Did it again Thursday. Better. Found myself mentally connecting mushroom names in the puzzle to flavors while chopping. Brain felt sharper, hands worked smoother. Made the best dashi I’ve managed so far, totally spaced on timers. Just knew when things looked right.
Lesson learned? Simple. Pairing hands-on cooking with focused, simple puzzles uses different parts of your noodle together. Your hands learn from the doing, your brain gets quicker spotting details. Bonus: You might stop making garbage soup just because you’re bored waiting for the water to boil.
