miso noodle bowl

For the first time in a long time, I had a weekend away sans kids (I sure missed them though!) and I was able to enjoy dinner and drinks with interruption-free conversation with my girlfriends over a mouth-watering bowl of ramen noodles at the renown Momofuku noodle bar in Toronto. Today’s post is somewhat inspired by that ramen bowl of goodness (I’m still thinking about it!) but it is by far a simplified version – definitely one of those meals you can whip up in a hurry, therefore great for lunch crunches or last minute dinners. The two key ingredients are miso paste and Japanese style thin noodles, both of which I always have at home in the fridge and pantry. Miso paste has a long shelf life and adds great flavour for a broth if you’re in a hurry and don’t have veggie or chicken stock on hand. The thin Japanese noodles cook in 3 minutes and take on the flavours of whatever broth they are put into quickly, making them quite tasty! I used zucchini today but you could easily substitute another vegetable (e.g. carrots, broccoli, kale, snap peas) – the key is to shred or cut the veggies very thin so that they cook quickly and can be consumed easily alongside the noodles.

I also sliced up some left over pork chops we had from the night before – since the meat is already cooked, it’s easy to cut into thin strips and simply add to the noodle soup to warm through. You could use any left over meat (e.g. chicken, steak, ham, tofu) – again, just cut in into thin strips to so that it eats well with the noodles. Adding a beaten egg to this dish thickens the soup, as well as gives it some texture and body (and protein if you don’t have left over meat!). Pie pie (my toddler) always wants the “noodles” part of noodle dishes, but with this one since all the ingredients are cut thinly they just end up becoming parts of twirled up noodle bites, and she loved it!

prep: 5 min   cook: 5   yield: 2

what you need:

• 1 zucchini
  

  Japanese style wheat noodles

• 1 1/2 tbsp miso paste
  

  organic miso paste

• 5 cups of water
• 1 bundle of Japanese style wheat noodles (thin)
• 1 egg
• 1 grilled pork chop *optional
• 1/2 cup cubed firm tofu *optional
• green onion & cilantro *optional for garnish

what to do:

1. Put water in a medium pot and bring to a boil, on high heat.
2. While you wait for your water to boil, wash zucchini and use a grater (large setting) to get zucchini shreds.
3. Slice pork and tofu into thin slices, set aside. Lightly beat egg in a small bowl, set aside. Wash and thinly slice green onion and roughly chop cilantro.
4. Once water boils, add miso paste, stirring to dissolve it.
5. Add noodles, stirring. After 1 min, reduce heat to medium and add zucchini, tofu & pork. Cook for another 1 or 2 minutes, until noodles are tender.
6. While stirring, add the egg slowly by pouring it into the pot as you stir. The broth will become cloudy within 30 seconds or so – this means the egg is cooked. Remove from heat and serve in bowls, garnish with chopped up green onion and cilantro if desired. Enjoy!

cut up the noodles for baby feeding, tofu & zucchini are soft, easy for baby to eat

the boss approves!