Name: Japanese Noodle & Shiitake Soup
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces dried soba (buckwheat) noodles; 8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth; 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger; 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, slivered (about 1 cup); 2 tablespoons sake, or mirin (see Note); 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, or tamari; 1 tablespoon rice vinegar; 2 tablespoons miso, (see Note); 1 cup packed spinach leaves, washed, dried and coarsely chopped; 4 scallions, finely chopped; 1/4 cup grated daikon radish, (see Note)

Directions

Step 1

Bring at least 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Slowly add soba. When water returns to a boil, add 1/2 cup cold water. Repeat steps of returning water to a boil and adding cold water 2 or 3 times, until the noodles are just tender. (It will take 5 to 7 minutes total.) Drain and rinse with cold water, working your fingers through the strands to separate them. Set aside.

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Step 2

Combine broth and ginger in the large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add mushrooms and simmer for 8 minutes. Add sake (or mirin), soy sauce (or tamari) and vinegar.
Step 3

Whisk a ladleful of the broth with miso in a small bowl to dissolve it; return the mixture to the pot, along with spinach. Simmer for 2 minutes more and remove from the heat. Divide the noodles among soup bowls and ladle the soup over the top. Garnish with scallions and daikon.

Tips

Notes: Mirin is a sweet, low-alcohol rice wine essential in Japanese cooking. Look for it in your supermarket with the Asian or gourmet ingredients.

Tips

Miso is fermented bean paste made from barley, rice or soy-beans. It is available in different colors; in general, the lighter the color, the more mild the flavor. Look for miso alongside the refrigerated tofu in the market. It will keep, in the refrigerator, for more than a year.

Tips

Daikon is a long, white radish; it can be found in Asian groceries and most natural-foods stores. Commercially prepared pickled daikon radish can be found in Asian markets.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

140 calories; protein 8.6g; carbohydrates 27g; dietary fiber 0.9g; sugars 1.8g; fat 0.6g; saturated fat 0.1g; vitamin a iu 436.4IU; vitamin c 4.1mg; folate 40.2mcg; calcium 22.9mg; iron 1.5mg; magnesium 39.7mg; potassium 353.9mg; sodium 1099.8mg; thiamin 0.2mg.

Exchanges:

1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable

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Ingredients

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Ingredients

Directions

Tips

Tips

Tips

Nutrition Facts