Udon Noodle Soup

March 6, 2020
Richard Makin
Main Dish

Serves 2
0.0

This soup uses an absolutely killer kombu dashi recipe to build up some seriously bold umami vibes. Packed with miso, udon noodles and flavoursome veggies, this is the perfect winter warmer soup!

Ingredients

For the Dashi

7x12cm piece of kombu
3 large dried shiitake mushrooms
850ml water
1/2 T mushroom bouillon
1 T white miso paste

For the Soup

Large handful of baby spinach, washed
1 T mirin (or shaoxing cooking wine)
1 T soy sauce (or tamari)
1 carrot, finely chopped into matchsticks
1 x 200g pack udon noodles
150g extra firm silken tofu
Pinch Wicked Kitchen sesame togarashi (or your favourite togarashi)
Sprigs of fresh mint and coriander
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Instructions

To Make the Dashi

Using scissors, make around 4 x 2cm cuts into the piece of kombu. In a medium saucepan, combine the kombu, shiitake mushrooms and water. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave for five minutes.
After five minutes, remove the kombu. You can leave it to dehydrate on a cooling rack in a warm, dry area and use it again for another recipe. Turn the heat back up to medium and bring the liquid to a simmer again. Turn off the heat again, cover and leave to stew with just the shiitake mushrooms for another five minutes.
After five minutes have passed, combine the mushroom bouillon and the miso in a small bowl. Using a ladle, spoon a little of the dashi onto the bouillon and miso. Use a small whisk to blend everything together until smooth and creamy looking.
Add the miso mixture back into the saucepan of dashi and bring everything back up to a simmer. Using a slotted spoon or a spider, remove the shiitakes (which should now be fully rehydrated) and slice them finely. Set them aside for later.

To Make the Soup

Once the dashi is simmering, add the baby spinach and allow it to wilt for just a few seconds. Remove the cooked spinach with a slotted spoon or a spider. Carefully squeeze out any excess moisture and chop it finely. Set aside with the shiitake mushrooms.
Add the mirin and the tamari to the dashi. Mix to combine. Add the carrots and noodles and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes, making sure the noodles break apart from each other.
While simmering, gently slice the tofu into cubes. Once the soup is ready, divide between two bowls. Top with the spinach, mushrooms, tofu, togarashi and herbs. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil before serving.

How to Make Kombu Dashi

Kombu dashi is essentially a super simple, umami-rich stock made from a type of kelp: Kombu! It’s used to make miso soup and a whole host of other dishes. There are a few ways to make kombu dashi, most of which use bonito flakes to add saltiness and extra umami to both. Instead, we’re using shiitake mushrooms and mushroom bouillon powder, both of which you can find at good Asian supermarkets.

Combine the dried mushrooms and the kombu

Bring the water to a simmer but turn off the heat before it boils. Cover with a lid and leave to stew for 5 minutes.

Once 5 minutes have passed, remove the kombu and place the saucepan back over medium heat. Bring back to a simmer.

Once simmering, turn off the heat again and leave the shiitakes to fully rehydrate. Remove a little of the dashi and mix it into the miso and mushroom bouillon.

Whisk together the miso, mushroom bouillon and a little of the dashi until very smooth and almost creamy.

Add the miso mixture back to the saucepan and whisk well to combine. This is your Kombu Dashi. Use it in this recipe or strain out the mushrooms and use as a vegetable stock in another recipe!