Japanese Style Miso Soup with Soba Noodles

One of my favorite items to order in Japanese restaurants is miso soup. My second favorite is nabeyaki soup with soba, or buckwheat, noodles. You know, the one that's served in the iron pot with noodles and all sorts of other tasty items? So, I set out to identify what elements to combine to create such a thing.

This recipe is a basic buckwheat noodle in a miso broth with some classic Japanese seasonings. All sorts of additional ingredients may be added: sliced chicken or pork, seafood, other vegetables. Really, your imagination is the limit of what you think would taste good with these Japanese-style flavors. I've made several suggestions describing my methods and ingredients; I encourage you to be creative in what you put in your soup and how you do it. And, by all means, please share your experiences! Enjoy...

Step 1 Preparation -- The pot and the water

The first step is the one I always seem forget until everything else is prepped, so I've made it explicit: Set the water on to boil first! I can usually complete most of the prep for the rest of the ingredients before the water boils; think of it as a challenge...

For 4 servings, use 8 cups of water.

I use an enameled cast iron pot with a tight fitting lid because it holds the heat so well and doesn't cool down so much when adding ingredients. Any pot will do, but I think the process goes faster once the water has come to a boil. The enameled cast iron makes cleanup easy, too.

Comments

[hushmush]

I've a question. Whenever I've tried putting nori into water, it tends to dissolve and leave a gross brown tint in the water, and just becomes generally soggy and unappealing. So, I guess this is my question: wouldn't it be better to use wakame?

[GeeDeeKay]

Interesting question... I have not used wakame, but I can describe in more detail the nori I have used in this soup with good success. It's called "yaki nori" or toasted seaweed. It is essentially sushi roll wrappers, easily found in many food stores as sheets in which to roll maki. I take a sheet from the package and cut strips about 1/4" or 3/8" wide, then cut the strips into squares. These seem to hold up just fine in the soup, even a day or 2 later when reheating leftovers.

I'll add some of this detail to the steps above. Let me know if you try wakame and how it turns out!

[Whatsername]

This looks wonderful! Can't wait to try it ~ I love soba noodles and I love miso, so I know it will be great. Thanks for sharing!

[valhallas_end]

Awesome.  I am strangely addicted to miso soup - I will have to try this when I find the time.