Wakame and Miso Soup

Hi everyone, I am just beginning my path through Japanese cooking and am starting with my first miso soup. Embarrassingly enough I have no idea whether I should do anything fancy to store my leftover wakame or just leave it in the bad in a cupboard, half open.

Also, anyone have any personal favorite ingredients they like to add to their miso soup that may be a little out of the ordinary? (I'll be doing a search on this too, just thought I'd get ahead of myself).

Glad I found the forum - very excited to be here.

What's a meal without a bowl of miso soup, right?
OK, regarding your wakame, it is dried? If so, it can be stored in a ziplock bag. Just keep it away from moisture. If it's fresh, I think it is best to use it up. The most popular (in my household anyway) way to use wakame is to toss it with some cucumber sliced paper thin and flavour it with rice vinegar (Sushi Vinegar or if you are in north america, they now sell rice vinegar "dressing" that is juat vinegar with some spices and herbs). Once prepared this way, it can be stored in your fridge for a few days.
Some of my my favorite things to put in miso soup are eggplant, mushrooms (Shiitake, Maitake or Shimeji), Broccoli and mochi.

Brilliant, thanks for the response. I always thought that wakame actually meant dried seaweed so a "wet"/fresh version would be called something else, no? Or is wakame the seaweed and I just have a dry version of it?

As for the cucumber and wakame salad that's a great idea. Is mirin a fair replacement for the rice vinegar or would it make more sense to just use the real stuff? BTW, always wondered, but are Kikkoman products even sold in Japan or is that a western thing?

Wakame is the name of the seaweed. It is sold either fresh or dried.

Mirin is something completely different from rice vinegar. It is used to enhance the flavour of a dish by adding rich, sweetness to it.

Kikkoman is one of the leading brands (it is THE brand if you ask me) in Japan when it comes to soy sauce.

Happy cooking!