Miso Ramen Soup with Shitake and Seaweed

Dietary: Vegan

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Stock

1.5litres water

1 medium onion, quartered

2 carrots, cut in halves

2 celery stalks, cut in halves

1 leek

8 whole black peppercorns

30g dried shitake mushrooms

30g piece of kelp

Method:

Soak the kelp and shitake mushrooms overnight.

In a large saucepan put in all the ingredients, including the skins on the vegetables, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently until the vegetables are cooked and the stock has reduced by a quarter, which takes about 1 hour. Strain the stock, keeping the liquid and discarding the vegetables.

Miso Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsps Arame Seaweed

100g soba ramen noodles

750ml stock

4 tbsps shoyu

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tbsp rice vinegar

100g endame beans

150g pak choi

100g shitake mushrooms

100g tofu cubes

2 tbsps miso

3 spring onions, sliced

Method:

Soak the seaweed in boiling water for 15 minutes.

Boil the soba ramen noodles in plenty of water for 4 minutes, drain and divide between 4 bowls.

Bring the stock to the boil and add the seaweed plus the soaking water and the shoyu, ginger juice, rice vinegar and endame beans, pak choi, shitake mushrooms and tofu cubes and simmer gently for a couple of minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the miso and sliced spring onions.

Pour the miso soup over the ramen noodles and eat at once.