Curried miso soup.

Were I to travel and find this inscribed on a chalkboard I'd ask for it.

Lately I've warmed up to the perfectly obvious (to everyone but me!?) affinity shared by miso and curry. They were born to be together. I got to the point in my personal life where so few things sat on the cupboard shelf or in the fridge that I began mixing mere colorants with water and digesting them for their vacant appeals of flavor and nothing else. Miso was, of course, a natural first round draft.

Miso with celery leaves, miso with cilantro and Sriracha, miso with honey and pungent green onions listening to Your Arsenal. If a day devised hunger my rejoinder invariably included a mild red miso paste.

And I had some turmeric, some cumin and bay leaves. But as yet they had not formally met miso. So I decided to match them up. I tell you, the Lingua Franca ain't the only thing wayfaring boats ever gave us.

Start with one coarsely chopped onion--the variety is up to you. Lamenting spring in autumn is for assholes, but I gotta say, hacking into a cream-colored Vidalia and not producing tears is a disappointment. Anyway I used a Vidalia. Add as much chopped celery and a jalapeno--be steadfast, remove the white innards if cowardice becomes you. Saute in peanut oil til nearly see-through. Add 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, beefy dashes of turmeric, cumin madras curry and bay--oh and a heaping tablespoon of red miso.

Let the pan dehydrate above medium heat. Wait for the aroma as--like unmarried uncles and proper cheeses, it will in short turn smell like what it is. Watch as the additives change colors. Once they have, and once the elements have unified in an aromatic roux-like huddle add a pint of liquid--I used an arbitrary combination of mild beer, water, coconut milk and peach nectar. Salt pepper.

Add a package of glass noodles.

Once an orange broth has been cultivated, and just before the noodles are ready, remove from the heat source. Add chopped green onions, sliced cucumbers, basil, and radishes. Add if you like, as I did, a hefty handful of shelled and de-veined shrimp--be prepared to eat them in a virtually raw state which, as the customs of nature dictate, is correct.

You might also like a bit of lime. This neighbors' miscegenation entreats it.