All hearty, Asian-inspired soup. Feeds two with a big apetite:
© tuttysan, 2010
It’s Fall. Cool nights are back and with them my hankering for soup. I like my soup with noodles, a palette of colorful vegetables and a touch of protein. You can often use left over vegetables and meat to prepare your soups so the possibilities are endless. If you are working with Ramen noodles that come with a soup base you still can add your own vegetables (make it healthier). I usually make my own soup base, but for this recipe I am using a pre-bought one from the Asian market. There are also some ‘all natural’, gluten and MSG free soup bases out there you can buy online and keep handy for the winter.
You will need:
Four cups of water
Two table spoons of soup base
One tablespoon Olive oil
Half a teaspoon of sesame oil
One clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
One cup of oyster mushrooms
Two cups of bean sprouts
Two to three heads of bok choy
Two tomatoes, cut up to inch-wide squares
6 oz. sirloin steak, grilled (thinly sliced) – use your meat of preference or substitute with tofu
1/3 lb. of noodles – use more or less according to preference
1/4 bunch of cilantro, washed and chopped
A note about the noodles: I like Korean noodles for my soups because they are tasty and are ready within 5 minutes. You can get them at the Asian market.
Vegetable noodle soup © tuttysan, 2010
Preparation:
On a soup pot, let the olive oil warm up for three minutes on medium fire and add the garlic. Stir until garlic picks up some color and add water. Bring to a boil on high and add half one table spoon of soup base. Stir. If your noodles require over 5 minutes to cook, add the noodles at this point, cover again and lower to medium fire. Wait five minutes and add the vegetables. Stir and cover. Monitor vegetables and turn off when they are soft enough for your taste. A minute prior to serving, add beef, sesame oil and the rest of the soup base/salt as desired. If you’re using tofu instead of meat, stir-fry it on a skillet with vegetable oil and some soy sauce before adding to soup. Serve on big soup bowls placing noddles in first, then adding the vegetables and meat. Garnish with cilantro.
Enjoy!
