Japanese Soba Noodle Soup

This soup is one of our favorite and most healthy meals in our home. Our kids love it and it's an easy and delicious meal for guests. We have made it so many times and don't really have a written recipe for it. Just years of working on this one. So the amounts below are estimates. Play with them as you develop your own soups. Many regular grocery stores carry these ingredients now, otherwise specialty asian stores will have them. The base of Japanese soups is made with Kombu (a thick seaweed) and bonita (dried fish flakes). If you can't find them you can get plenty of flavor from the other ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup Sake

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

6 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons Miso paste

1 large piece Kombu

1/4 cup Bonita flakes (placed in a tea strainer or cheese cloth package as it will have to be removed at the end)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 package firm tofu cubed

4 cups baby spinach

Soba noodles

Cilantro, coarsely chopped for garnish

Seaweed, cut with scissors into strips

Asian chile garlic sauce

Directions:

The noodles:
While cooking the soup, cook soba noodles by package directions, slightly al dente. Before draining water save two cups of the soba water to add to the soup. This adds excellent nutrients and some starch to thicken the soup slightly.
Drain noodles and run under cool water in colander.

The soup:

In medium pot, saute shallots, ginger and garlic in canola oil for 2 minutes

Add mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes

Add sake wine and deglaze pan

Add rice wine vineagar and stock and bring to simmer

Add kombu and continue to simmer for 15 - 30 minutes

Add tofu and and cook until warmed through

Add spinach right before serving the soup

Finishing the dish:

Remove bonita from soup

Prepare individual bowls with soba

Ladle in soup

Garnish with cilantro and seaweed

Serve with chile sauce if desired