[Nyororin]

I have never even once in my life heard of shark fin in Miso soup. That would have to be about the most wasteful thing anyone could do.

Shark fin is a Chinese delicacy. Miso soup is an everyday Japanese food. It would be like... like... tossing caviar into your macaroni and cheese.
In other words, something that wouldn`t happen - plus it`s two different types of food. Japanese and Chinese.

So... Don`t put shark fin in your miso soup. Use it with the type of food it`s meant for.

For an easier way to make miso soup - If you`re taking 30 minutes to make it... wow, you spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I can whip mine up in less than 5.

Almost all red miso has the dashi (soup base) in it already. Just dissolve it in boiling water to your taste. If you have white miso without soup base in it, pour normal fish based soup stock into hot water until you can taste it, but it tastes a bit thin for soup. Then dissolve the white miso. Toss some sliced green onions and tofu in, boil for 3 or 4 minutes, and you`re done.

Trust me, making the dashi from kombu and bonito flakes is a lot of trouble and hardly anyone does it anymore.