Easily Converted Vegetarian / Vegan Recipe: Miso Noodles & Vegetables

My #1 go-to recipe is to make miso noodles with vegetables.

It is dead easy, super stupid to make and takes maybe 20 minutes maximum, depending on which vegetables you use and how you prep.

You can keep it vegan, turn it vegetarian by adding an egg, or make it meat-y with some chicken, fish, beef or pork tossed in.

Ingredients:

Noodles*

Absolutely not the instant ramen kind in a package with crappy seasoning. See note below.

Sesame oil 

Gives great flavour

Mild mellow miso paste

I buy this Tradition Miso in Organic Brown Rice Mellow Miso paste because it is in glass and not plastic, but you can buy whatever you wish

For you Montrealers, it can be found at Avril @ Dix-Trente.

Vegetables you could toss in

• Spinach
• Mushrooms — white button, brown button, shiitake, creminis, portobello
• Eggplant
• Soft silken tofu — cut it into small squares
• Bok choy — Chinese cabbage, soft & easily cooked
• Carrots — Julienned so it cooks easily or slightly raw for crunch
• Cabbage – Julienned so it cooks easily or can be slightly raw for crunch

Garnishes

• Green onions or chives — Chopped
• Thinly, THINLY sliced shallot (half of one or one)

[Optional] Seaweed

I like the strips of roasted, seasoned seaweed but any kind will do, even dried seaweed like wakame where you can soak it to reconstitute, and add it afterwards.

[Optional] Eggs, Salmon, Chicken, Beef, Pork

Note on Noodles:

These noodles are not the kind you get that you know of as “instant ramen”. The cheapest noodles are usually greasy, and depending on the brand and type, are not tasty at all.

I would recommend trying to buy actual noodles that will cook easily because it takes pretty much the same amount of time to do it versus crappy ramen noodles, so why not?

There are different types of noodles:

I like somen noodles because of how thin they are, but soba, or udon noodles are fine too if you like thicker noodles. They even have buckwheat noodles that are also as delicious.

This is the exact type I buy:

They’re very good, they cook in 4 minutes in boiling water, and come pre-sized. They are slightly more expensive than other noodles because they’re organic and made in Australia, but you can always opt for cheaper noodles if organic or made in Australia is not your concern like these ones from Japan:

HOW TO MAKE MISO NOODLES

PREP YOUR FOOD FIRST

1. Wash & prep all your vegetables first; it goes very quickly
2. Cook your vegetables beforehand — sauté them in a pan with some sesame oil (a teaspoon or two) so that it is PRE-COOKED and ready to add

*If you plan on eating any kind of seafood or meat with it, prep your meat ahead of time into small cubes and cook it in a pan with a tiny bit of salt so that it is PRE-COOKED and ready to add

MAKE THE MISO SAUCE

• Take 1-2 tablespoons of yellow miso paste and mix it with a teaspoon of sesame oil to make it more liquid and set it aside

MAKE THE NOODLES

1. Boil water, once it reaches a hard boil, toss in one round pack of noodles and let it cook for 4 minutes
2. Pull out the noodles and drain, setting aside a small amount of the noodle water, about 1/4 cup
3. Mix in the miso sauce immediately into the noodles coating it completely with the sauce. Add some of the noodle water if need be to make the paste coat the noodles easily.
4. Arrange the pre-cooked vegetables and meat on top of the noodles
5. Garnish with your shaved shallots or green onions

EAT. ENJOY!