Noodle Soup for Needy People
I have to say, to be prescriptive about a noodle soup seems to be against the ethos of what you're actually cooking. When I need a noodle soup, believe me I am in no mood to start weighing and measuring. I heat some broth, of some description or other, and throw in a variety of vegetables that are skulking about in the fridge and the most soothing noodles I can find. You can add other things, some chicken strips or, at the end, some fine rags of raw tuna or salmon, but I generally want the vegetably broth and noodles by themselves. The protein element, while so desirable in so many ways I'm sure, is not what I'm after here. But anyway, I throw down a blueprint here. Don't get caught up in it, but follow it if it feels helpful.
- Level: Easy
- Total: 12 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Cook: 2 min
- Yield: 2 for supper
Ingredients
6 ounces udon noodles (dried, from a packet)
3 cups chicken or vegetable or dashi broth
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 star anise
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 cup bean sprouts
3/4 cup sugar snaps
3/4 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 heads baby bok choy, finely sliced
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
Directions
- Cook the noodles according to packet instructions and while the water is boiling fill a nearby saucepan with stock, brown sugar, star anise, ginger and soy sauce. (When the noodles are done, just drain them and put half in each bowl.)
- When the flavored stock comes to a boil, add the vegetables. They should be cooked before 2 minutes are up.
- Pour half into each bowl, over the cooked and drained noodles and sprinkle with cilantro.
