Ingredients (serves 2 for a meal):
- miso paste (at least 4 Tbsp, whichever kind you prefer)
- 4 kombu pieces (15-20 cm long each)
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 small zucchini
- 1 small leek - white part only
- two handfuls of spinach leaves
- 1 thumb-size piece of ginger
- chinese egg noodles (2/3 of a 250g is a tad too much)
- 8 cups of water
Put the 8 cups of water in a pan and add the kombu. Let it soak for 1/2 hour. Heat the pan slowly and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so. Do not boil. Remove the kombu and reserve. Reserve the broth - this is what's called the dashi, and this is simplest kind of dashi there is!
Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables: peel the carrot, cut it lengthwise in half and each half in half again. Cut each of the four sticks into 2 cm pieces crosswise. Do the same with the zucchini (but don't peel it). Cut the leek diagonally into 1cm rounds. Peel and mince the ginger. Slice two of the pieces of kombu after washing them thoroughly to remove the slime.
Coat the bottom of another pot with a tablespoon or so of oil. Turn on the heat and when the oil is hot add the ginger and the leek. Let it slowly fry until the ginger releases its fragrance. Add the rest of the vegetables (but not the kombu) and fry for 5 minutes on low heat.
Add the reserved stock to the fried vegetables. Bring it to a slow boil. Let it cook until the vegetables are mostly cooked but retain a lot of bite. Turn off the heat and add the noodles, the spinach and the sliced kombu. Cover the pot after you've made sure that the noodles are untangled. Let the noodles become soft.
Put a few ladlefuls of hot stock in a bowl and add the miso paste. Start with 4 tablespoons. Mix the miso paste into the hot broth. With the help of a sieve, return the dissolved miso paste to the pot and mix well. Taste. If needed, add more paste. I also add a few drops of sesame oil. Serve hot, but after adding the miso paste never bring the broth to the boil again. Serve in deep bowls, eat using chopsticks and a a spoon. Loud slurping is a must!
Simple and very satisfying. The variations are endless, these are just guidelines…
Edits:
- This may need salt, depending on the amount of miso you add, and also the kind you miso you use. Dark soy sauce or fish sauce are possibilities for adjusting the salt.
- Soaked dry shiitake mushrooms are an excellent addition here, so are green onions and cubed tofu.
- Another possible variation is the type of noodles you add; we've used glass noodles and it was fun.
