Vegetarian noodle soup.

I love making this dish because it is simple and can be adapted to ones taste.

So this is the recipe in order in which I cook everything.

Add finely chopped ginger and garlic to a little oil in a cauldron let it cook for 30 seconds or so.

Add soy sauce and a little boiling water to make this.

I let this cook in water till the raw taste of ginger and garlic is gone about 10 or 15 minutes.

Add chopped mushrooms to the pot with a few carrots and broccoli this gives the broth some flavour. I had marinated tofu 2 days in advance so I added some of it to the cauldron at this stage.

I let this cook for 15 minutes.

At this point I add the soup base. You can get a variety of sauces or make your own. I prefer buying ready-made sauces. For the broth in the picture I used Lee Kum Kee’s chilli garlic sauce, it is a bit salty so add a little at first. I will try this with Korean gochijang (there will be pictures of that soon). Black bean and garlic sauce by the same company is good too but feel free to experiment.  These are the vegetables I used as I had them at hand but feel free to use vegetables you like. Sliced mushrooms, sliced carrots (I used frozen ones). Brocolli florets cut to a bit size (again I used frozen ones), spring onion stems and bean sprouts. The rule is add vegetables that need more time first. Meanwhile fry your remaining tofu or if you prefer boil it all in the broth. At this stage I add my noodles and let everything simmer. If you are using noodles that take a long time to cook add them in earlier. I use rice sticks which cook in 3-5 minutes.  

After everything is cooked I add a little miso paste (I have found a nice vegetarian paste which is organic too). Miso looks so pretty it is hard to resist the way it looks in a soup. Miso should never be added to boiling water but to hot water. If you want a thick soup add a spoon of flour. And your noodle soup is ready to serve. Since I was cooking for a  large group of people I put some finely chopped carrots, spring onion stems, toasted sesame and coriander out in separate bowls but feel free to add this to your dish before serving.

Unfortunately we didn’t get pictures of the finished soup L. I will post pictures of it another time.

Cooking tip- Cover the noodle soup with a lid and it will cook faster and use less energy.

toasted sesame

chopped ginger and garlic

chopped mushrooms

this is what the broth looks like when its boiling

i made some spring rolls too. The fried tofu is on the right.