Quick “Udon” Noodle Soup

There are times when you just want a hot bowl of yummy soup but don’t feel like making a proper stock and want a quick version. This is that quick version. It’s a riff on a delicious udon noodle soup we had when visiting in LA and both DH and I loved it. I decided to try to recreate it in a cheating version. That is, a vegetarian version with pareve chicken soup powder but the flavor that resulted was a really excellent imitation of the soup we ate.

I have yet to find Udon noodles in Jerusalem but I cheated with using slightly wider pasta for stir fry that is easily found in supermarkets here. I know, I know, it’s not the same texture but we make do. Maybe in a moment of creative madness, I’ll try a recipe in my pasta maker but that’s for another day.

One thing you cannot cheat on is the tofu, miso and mirin since without these ingredients, it just ain’t anywhere near the soup and those I found easily in a local health food shop, Nitzat Haduvdevan which has been around for lo these many years and I’m a fan. Many regular supermarkets overseas stock these items.

A word about mirin and miso which I confess I’ve not used till experimenting with this soup a good few months ago but since I have, I’ve sneaked it in to all sortsa stuff to their improvement. Miso is a paste of fermented soybeans with a salty and piquant flavor and it’s reddish brown in color (there are other kinds but this is what I used). Mirin is a sweet and tangy, slightly syrupy sauce similar in flavor to rice wine vinegar. It keeps well and is a nice addition to many sauces. The combo of these with soy sauce is an indescribable umami flavor that is just delicious. You can make this a meat dish by adding chicken stock instead of the soup powder (or buillion) and adding chicken in chunks or shreds but I was in a hurry and wasn’t in a mood for meat/chicken anyway, so I stuck with this veggie version.

I used a whole packet of tofu – 300 grams – so you are getting your protein, never fear. So, take your tofu and slice it up into sticks.

Put two to three generous tablespoons of soy sauce in your soup pot, enough to cover bottom of the pan.

Heat on low and lay your sliced tofu into the soy sauce and cook on both sides for about 3 minutes on each side till a nice light brown color. If it doesn’t all fit in at once, do it in two batches. They absorb pretty much all of the soy sauce. They should like like this:

Then remove from pot and set aside in a bowl or plate. Put in the miso, mirin, soup powder and water and bring to the simmer. Add the carrots (they take the longest to cook and I don’t like them too hard) and cook till they are somewhat softened and then add back the tofu and the mushrooms and snap peas and cook about 10 minutes more.

If you will be eating the soup immediately, you may cook the noodles right in the soup at the same time you cook the mushrooms and snap peas just till done (not al dente, this ain’t Italian, but not mushy either) if not, cook the noodles in a separate pot of salted water and then serve the soup with a nice dollop of noodles, don’t skimp!

Quick Udon Soup

300 grams firm tofu
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 rounded tablespoon miso
1 generous tablespoon mirin
3 rounded tablespoons pareve chicken soup powder
10 cups water
2 peeled, thinly sliced carrots – the thinly sliced part matters since the whole soup cooks quickly and you don’t want to have to “wait” for the carrots
10 thinly sliced mushrooms
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 pressed packet medium noodles

Take the tofu, pat dry and slice into medium strips (see pic above). Take a soup pot big enough to hold 10 cups of water and ingredients, and pour the soy sauce on the bottom of the pan to cover. Take the tofu and “fry” in the soy sauce about 3 minutes on each side till light brown. If need be do this in two batches, don’t crowd the pot since the tofu needs to “brown” properly – the tofu actually absorbs the soy sauce and turns a pale brown. Remove from the pot and set on a bowl or plate. Do not drain, you want all that soy yumminess. Then add the miso, mirin, soup powder and water to the pot and bring to the boil. Lower to a simmer and cook the thinly sliced carrots till almost cooked, then add the mushrooms, snap peas and return the tofu to the pot with the drippings of soy sauce and cook for about another 10 minutes till peas are tender. If eating immediately, add the noodles right into the soup,together with the mushrooms and snap peas, breaking them in half first (the dry noodles) and plunking them into the simmering soup. Cook till done, approximately 8-10 minutes. If serving later, cook noodles separately in salted water and add to individual bowls. A quick hot yummy soup that you will make again and again.