It was very important to me to figure out how to create a solid japanese soup that WASN'T MISO SOUP OR UDON. The hundreds of miso/udon soups I've eaten throughout the years has basically rendered them, along with chicken teriyaki, generic, boring japanese staples which I could no longer find pleasure in eating.
I originally made this with with a second dashi stock (where you boil the kombu/bonito mixture twice) to try and extract a stronger soup base. I added some miso at the end to give it some depth but the resulting dish just tasted exactly like miso soup with vegetables and noodles inside.
I then decided to get serious with this and found some dried sardines sitting in my kimchee refrigerator. I used them, along with kombu and bonito flakes to create a super intensified, umamified niboshi stock. I also decided to make a hybrid soup that wasn't quite udon and wasn't quite miso. I added just enough miso paste to give it some miso characteristics and depth, but not enough that it just tasted like straight miso soup. The resulting soup base, along with boiling some vegetables and mushrooms in it, was this magical, savory, deep, rich broth of the gods.
The noodles were a matter of trial an error. I made fresh pasta before, but this was a little different. The noodles had no eggs and also had to be thicker and slightly wider. I tested varying thicknesses and some widths to come up with what I think to be the best noodle. I also tested out some dough creating processes and ultimately came up with what I think is the easiest method to create the dough.
The one essential tool that I'm going to insist on is a pasta machine. They are not that expensive and should last forever. They roll the dough easier, faster, and with a consistent thickness. You can roll out by hand, but I can't give you a proper procedure for that. That being said, I used to roll out by hand before I got my machine and the pasta usually came out well.
fresh noodles:
enough for 2 people
1. 7.5 oz ap flour
2. 1/8 tsp salt
3. 3 oz water
note: - you can eyeball this, but unless you have made this a lot, it is much easier to just measure out the ingredients. The dough will come together much more quickly and require much less work if you measure out the ingredients by weight.
my pasta machine starts on setting 1 and goes to setting 7 which is the thinnest. For these noodles, I roll to a setting 4, which is pretty thick. Setting 5 is also acceptable but the noodles will cook faster and be noticeably thinner, which may suit your tastes.
recipe:
1. Add flour, salt, and water to a bowl. Quickly mix with 1 chopstick until a rough ball is formed.
2. Start kneading by hand in the bowl until a very general ball of dough has formed, and little to no wetness can be felt on the dough.
note: - the dough must be relatively dry. If you feel moisture and wetness while kneading, you need more flour. Keep incorporating flour into the dough and kneading until you feel no wetness.
3. Transfer dough to a clean surface and knead by hand for 2-3 minutes until dough starts to tighten some. Dough will still be pretty rough and dry.
4. It is at this point that I flatten the dough into a thin of a disk as possible, then roll it on setting 1.
5. The dough will come out rough, broken, and fragmented. This is ok, just squeeze the dough together again, form into a thin disk, and roll on setting 1 again.
6. The dough should start to look more cohesive at this point. Fold dough in half once, patch and squeeze any gaps and fragments, and roll on setting 1 again.
note: - don't fold the dough more than once and try not to knead the dough too much as it will take longer to roll it out.
7. Repeat step 6, 5-10 more times or until dough becomes smooth.
note: - If you don't have a pasta machine, you will have to knead the dough by hand until a relatively smooth ball forms then finish rolling out with a rolling pin to a 1/16" thickness.
8. Roll out on settings 2-4 (and 5 if you want a slightly thinner noodle)
9. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
10. Cut dough into thirds or an appropriate length for a noodle.
11. Place dough segment on cutting board so that its length is going north to south. Fold dough in half, top to bottom, then fold in half, top to bottom again so that 4 layers are created.
12. Try to line up the bottoms and sides as neatly as possible.
13. Using a ruler, cut 1/4" strips. Error on the side of slightly under 1/4".
note: - Use a ruler initially to get a sense of what 1/4" width is. The difference between 1/4" and 1/2" is pretty substantial. A 1/2" wide noodle is just too thick for me so be precise when cutting, and error on slightly under 1/4".
14. Unroll the noodles, lightly flour both sides, then lay out somewhere so that they are not touching, and let dry for at least 20 minutes.
15. Repeat for all the dough segments.
hoto noodles:
enough for 2 people.
note: - the picture shows tofu in the soup. I tried using both regular tofu and baked tofu and I didn't feel either one matched that well. I will not be using tofu again in this soup.
1. 0.3 oz kombu
2. 0.5 oz dried sardines (0.5 oz after heads and guts removed)
note: - This literally took me 15+ minutes to clean the sardines. It takes A LOT of them to get to 0.5 oz.
3. 0.5 oz bonito flakes
4. 5 medium button mushrooms - sliced into 1/4" pieces
5. 1/4 cup carrots - cut into 1/8" half moons
6. 1/4 cup daikon radish - cut into 1/8" half moons
7. 1/2 cup of cabbage - no stems, and shredded into rough 1 inch squares
8. 1 cup of kabocha squash (this is THE BEST squash for this soup. butternut can be used instead but it's not as good for this soup) - microwave 1-3 minutes JUST until the flesh is easy to cut through. completely remove the skin and cut into 1" chunks
9. 1 cup of potatos - skin removed and cut into 1" chunks
note: - I cut peel and cut the potato just before I put it into the soup to avoid discoloration.
10. 1 Cup of spinach - rough cut into 1 inch squares
11. 1/4 cup of white part of green onions - chopped in 1/2" segments
12. 4" x 4" kombu kelp saved from making the stock - cut in half and then cut into 1/8" strips
13. 1-3 TBL soy sauce
14. 1-3 TBL mirin
15. 1-2 tsp miso paste
recipe:
1. Add EXACTLY 6 cups of cold water into a medium pot. Add cleaned sardines and kombu kelp.
2. Put over medium heat and cover.
note: - You want this to heat for at least 30 minutes. You DO NOT want the water to boil or even simmer. If you notice the water is starting to simmer, take off the cover and lower the heat.
3. After 15 min, use a wire mesh strainer to strain out as much foam off the top of the water as possible. This eliminates the bitterness seeped out by the kombu and sardines.
4. After 30+ minutes, clean off foam again, then increase heat to medium high. RIGHT BEFORE IT BEGINS TO SIMMER, take out the kombu and save one 4" x 4" piece or combined 4" x 4" pieces for later use.
5. Lightly simmer the sardines for 5 minutes.
6. Take out all the sardines. Off heat, add the bonito flakes and let sit for 3 minutes.
7. Strain out all the bonito flakes
8. In a separate large pot, heat 4 quarts of water over high heat.
note: - traditionally, the noodles are cooked in the soup. I made it like this and it turned out fine. The problem with this is that I can't fit 2 servings of noodles into the soup because it will get too crowded and the noodles will start sticking. I boiled the noodles separately and the resulting dish tasted just as good.
9. Take saved 4" x 4" piece of kombu saved from the stock. Cut it in half. Cut each half into 2" long 1/8" strips.
10. Add 1 TBL of soy sauce and 1 TBL of mirin to the stock
11. Add mushrooms, carrots, diakon, potato, and kombu strips into the stock.
12. Put over medium high heat.
13. Let it simmer for 10 minutes then check potatoes. They should be just underdone.
14. Add in cabbage and butternut squash.
note: - squash does not take that long to cook. It's important to get the doneness of the squash correct as they are a highlight of the dish. They overcook quickly so keep an eye on them.
15. Simmer for 5 min then check the doneness of the squash. They should be JUST done. If still a bit under, simmer for another few minutes until just done.
16. Add in spinach and green onions and let cook for 1 minute
17. Turn off heat, then add 1 tsp of miso to a large ladle or small bowl. Add a little soup to the miso and mix with a spoon to dilute. Add the diluted miso to the soup and mix gently.
18. Taste and adjust seasoning. It is as this point that you may end up adding a significant amount more of soy sauce and mirin, as I always end up doing. You may also end up adding slightly more miso.
note: - First and foremost, you are NOT aiming for miso soup. You want just a HINT of miso flavor. The soy sauce and mirin should be pretty pronounced. It should be obviously salty without being too salty. I played it safe the last time I made this and diluted the soup some with water to get a more balanced flavor and the resulting soup wasn't as good. You want to be somewhat aggressive with the soy sauce and saltiness to balance out all the other ingredients and the neutral flavored noodles. It should in no way be overly salty, but you should not play it safe and look for a neutral saltiness. The mirin should also be an aggressive flavor in the soup. It should in no way be sweet, but you want to add a good amount so you can taste just a subtle hint of it.
19. When pasta water is boiling, add just enough salt so the water is barely salty, then add noodles.
20. Cook, stirring occasionally until JUST DONE. Noodles should have a very obvious bite and firmness to it. The noodles will continue to cook slightly after you pour soup over it and it absorbs liquid, so aim for "just slightly under cooked".
21. Add noodles to 2 separate large serving bowls and pour soup and fillings over it.
22. Serve and eat immediately.
note: - I tried eating this with kimchee and pickled daikon radish and I was NOT a fan. If felt almost disrespectful to the soup as the spiciness and sourness of the pickles literally masked the flavor of the broth and soup. Don't eat pickled side dishes with this.
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