Soba Soup with Spinach and Tofu

I tried going veggie once. It didn't work. Deep down I'm a carnivore. I love not only eating meat but butchering. So having tofu in a recipe is not my first choice...nor is it my girlfriend's, she hates the gellatinous stuff. But what the hell, I'd bought soba noodles in the natural food seciton of the supermarket and had to do something with them.

This recipe comes from Food Network's Sarah's Secrets. I changed the recipe though. Her version was way too fussy. You can see for yourself at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/soba-soup-with-spinach-and-tofu-recipe/index.html. So here is my version. Another alternative would be to add shitake mushrooms and replace the tofu with strips of beef steak.

Oh and by the way, miso rules. I mean, this has to be one of the best ingredients in the history of ingredients. Arguably even better than garlic. And that's saying something.

Soba Soup with Spinach and Tofu
Inspired by Sarah's Secrets

7 cups water
1 tablespoon instant dashi
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 carrots, sliced thin
3 green onions sliced
1/2 pound dried soba noodles
1/2 pound baby spinach, leaves washed well, and spun dry
8 to 10 ounces firm tofu (preferably silken), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 tablespoons miso

1. In a saucepan bring the water to a boil. Stir in the dashi and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and the sugar and simmer the broth for 5 minutes.

2. Add the carrots and green onions to the broth and simmer them, covered, for 5 minutes.

3. In a small bowl stir together well 1/2 cup of the soup broth and the miso. Set aside.

4. Put noodles in boiling stock and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are al dente, being careful to undercook them slightly since you've still got some cooking to do in this stock.

5. Shove in the spinach. There's alot of this stuff but there will barely be anything left once the spinach wilts. Add the tofu along with the spinach and simmer the soup for 1 minute.

6. Stir the miso mixture into the broth. Divide the soup among 6 large bowls. Eat with chop sticks and slurp up the broth when all the good chunks are gone. Hell, slurp up the whole thing and have some fun. The kids will all think you're the coolest person ever.

Vegetarian Miso Poutine

Poutine is a French-Canadian staple. The French-Canadian staple. More than pea soup which is something more traditional, dating back to the days of the voyageurs, poutine is part of the French-Canadian identity. And though the Quebeckers claim it as their own, all the other ignored French-Canadians beyond the Quebec borders love the 95% fat poutine.

I can take no credit for this poutine recipe. It comes from one of the ex-chefs at Calactus Cafe. The Moncton restaurant, which is pure brilliance for all vegetarians and non-vegetarians, does not make this poutine. They should. But they don’t. This guy simply makes it for his friends in Moncton’s only hostel, the C’mon Inn (clever, isn’t it). All I can take credit for is my particular recipe. The guy who introduced me to it only mentioned the ingredients. The rest is all me. Maybe a sign that I’m finally gaining a capacity to cook without a recipe. Give me the ingredients without any quantities or directions and I’ll whip it up. Within reason, of course.

Anyways, a poutine is three things: 1) fresh cut fries; 2) cheese curds; 3) gravy. The only thing different with this recipe lies in the latter of the three ingredients. Instead of a beef stock based gravy you do it as the following recipe describes. I don’t know how readily available cheese curds are outside of Eastern and Central Canada but google it. You’ll get an idea. This fries are easy. Cut clean peeled or unpeeled potatoes into fry sticks, toss in oil, salt and pepper and bake. Or you can deep-fry. But I prefer to bake them. This dish is fat enough as it is.

Miso Gravy

3 cups water
¼ cup miso paste
½ cup chopped mushrooms, oyster or shiitake
1 tbsp yellow curry paste
Dash fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
Corn starch

1. First consider that all ingredients are an approximation. You’ll have to eyeball this one.

2. Put all ingredient in a sauce pot, bring to boil and cook till mushrooms have softened and stock has reduced somewhat3. Transfer a bit of hot liquid to another bowl and mix with corn starch till there are no lumps. Pour the corn starch mixture into the miso sauce. Do this till you’ve reached desired sauce thickness. The sauce should stick to the cheese and fries once you’ve poured it on top of the latter ingredients.