japanese soup

On Friday night, after a few pints, we headed to a sushi joint in Mile End for some food before heading home. It wasn't great, unfortunately (the fish smelled a little too, well, fishy). But the teppanyaki noodle dish we ordered tasty and spicy.

After fishcakes this afternoon, a Japanese noodle soup just felt right: simple, cleansing, natural.

Japanese noodle soup
(serves 2)
2 blocks of fine egg noodles
1 large carrot, julienned
1 large courgette, sliced into rounds and quartered
1 bunch of spring onions, sliced diagonally
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Swiss Marigold bouillon powder + 1 1/2 litres freshly boiled water
1 tbsp soy sauce
white pepper, to taste
dried chilli flakes, to taste
salt, to taste

Set a small pot of water to boil and cook the egg noodles for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil over a medium high heat in a large pot. Add the courgettes, carrot and broccoli and saute gently. Add a splash of soy sauce.

Drain the noodles and add to the pot, coating the noodles. Add the bouillon powder and water mixture and stir. Add the spring onions and bring to an almost-boil. Stir in the spinach leaves and sprinkle the chilli flakes over the soup. Season to taste. Serve evenly and immediately in large bowls with chopsticks.

Calories: 350 per serving.

This recipe is also great for a quick meal - it literally took me less than 20 minutes. What's more, most ingredients are usually on hand.

Raw peppers and chillis would be great additions to this soup.