The autumn leaves and the sound of rain has me craving this earthy umami miso noodle soup. Full of delicious vegetables and savoury enough to warm the soul, yet light and healthy. Soba noodles are my current favourite. I adore the way they come in individual bundles, it makes portion control much easier! I have also been known to make this miso noodle soup with chewy thick udon noodles.
Auckland is blessed to have such a range of gorgeous Japanese, and other specialist supermarkets. It is here that I get most of my Japanese ingredients, such as miso paste. I use Hikari Organic Brown Rice Miso paste, found online here or at Japan mart. They have a very extensive range which can be daunting, but I find the staff are generous in their time to help you pick the right one for you. While initially expensive, miso paste lasts a long time if kept in the fridge. I go through a pottle over roughly 6 months.
Ingredients
- 5 portobello mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 1/2 eggplant, sliced into fingers
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 bundles soba noodles
- 1 pak choi, sliced
- 100gm tofu puffs, cut in half
- 4 tbsp miso paste
- 2 tbsp gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) - optional
- 4 cups boiling water
- 1 spring onion, sliced
- Togarashi (Japanese chilli spice) to serve
Instructions
Toss the mushrooms and sliced eggplant in the soy sauce and sesame oil and grill in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Once cooked through, set aside. Meanwhile bring a pot of water to boil and cook your soba noodles for 4 minutes, or until nearly cooked. They will continue to cook in the soup broth a little, so underdone is best here. Toss the mushrooms, eggplant, noodles and pak choi together until combined. Pile in the vegetable and noodle mix in each bowl and top with tofu puffs. In a small jug, put your miso paste and gochujang. Top up with hot water and stir until the pastes have dissolved. Gently pour the broth over the noodles, sprinkle with the sliced spring onions and season with togarashi.
