Chicken Udon Soup With Hijiki And Spinach Leaves Food

NABEYAKI UDON SOUP WITH CHICKEN, SPINACH, AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place sardines or kombu in a large Dutch oven or donabe, fill with 6 cups water, and set aside at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, cook spinach in a medium pot of boiling salted water until just cooked through, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels. Gently squeeze water from spinach, then transfer to a cutting board and cut into 2" slices. Transfer to a plate. Return liquid to a boil, add snow peas, and cook until just cooked through, about 1 minute. Drain and transfer to plate with spinach. Wipe out pot and reserve.
• Bring sardine liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat. Using slotted spoon, discard sardines, then reduce heat to medium. Add chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, tofu (if using), soy sauce, mirin, and remaining 3/4 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender, 3-5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook udon in reserved pot 2 minutes less than package directions.
• Bring chicken mixture to a simmer. Drain noodles and add immediately to pot. Add spinach, snow peas, scallions, and fish cake (if using), arranging each into sections and leaving an opening for egg.
• Gently beat eggs in a small bowl with a whisk or chopsticks. Pour into broth and cook until just set, about 2 minutes.
• Serve soup immediately in pot tableside, portioning into individual bowls.

CHICKEN UDON NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Bring chicken stock, garlic, ginger, and chili powder to a boil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken, bok choy, and mushrooms; let simmer lightly for 3 minutes. Add noodles and cook soup for 4 minutes more.
• Pour soup mixture evenly into 2 soup bowls. Place mung beans on top in the center of each bowl, with green onion placed neatly on top. Sprinkle dried onions and cilantro on top.

SPINACH CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Over high heat, bring chicken broth and water, mustard, and garlic to a simmer. As this is coming to a boil, de-rib and wash the spinach, then tear the leaves into 2-inch pieces. Lightly toast 4 slices of French or Italian bread. When toasted, spread with sundried tomato, pesto or green olive paste.
• When the soup is at a simmer, add the chicken and simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes just to warm through. Then add the spinach leaves, and cook for a few seconds or until the leaves just wilt. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Set 2 slices of toasted bread in the bottom of each soup bowl. Remove the soup from the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper and ladle it over the bread.

OYAKO UDON

Steps:

• For the dashi: In a medium saucepan, soak the kombu and mushrooms in the filtered water for at least 2 hours and up to 10 hours at room temperature. After soaking, heat the saucepan with the water, soaked kombu and mushrooms over low heat until bubbles begin to form around the kombu and mushrooms, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the kombu and mushrooms before the water comes to a boil. Save the kombu and mushrooms for a future use.
• Bring the soaking water to a boil and then turn off the heat. Add the bonito flakes. Let stand for 2 minutes without stirring to steep the bonito flakes. To strain the dashi, pour the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve or a strainer lined with a thin kitchen towel, cheesecloth or paper towels. Do not press on the bonito flakes while straining as it will cloud the dashi. You should now have about 8 cups of dashi. Use the finished dashi immediately or cool completely and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
• For the tare: Combine the mirin and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Lower the heat, add the soy sauce and cook until the liquid starts to simmer, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
• For the soup: To cook the eggs, bring 1 quart (about 1 liter) of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add a pinch of kosher salt, then lower the eggs into the boiling water with a spider and cook over high heat for 7 minutes, stirring the eggs gently once. Remove the pan from the heat and drain. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water and let them cool for 3 minutes. Peel the eggs and set aside.
• Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange the chicken skin-side-down on the foil. Using a paring knife, lightly score the meat side every 1/4 inch. Brush with the sesame oil.
• Make ginger juice by grating the 3-inch whole piece of ginger on a Japanese grater or rasp grater. If using a rasp grater, transfer the grated ginger to a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and press to drain as much juice as possible into the bowl. You should have about 1 tablespoon fresh ginger juice. Drizzle the ginger juice over the chicken and season lightly with the sea salt and pepper. Broil the chicken thighs, basting every 3 to 4 minutes with 1/4 cup of the tare, until golden brown and just cooked through, 12 to 16 minutes. Flip the chicken so it's skin-side up, baste again and broil until the skin is golden brown and crisp, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, let rest for 10 minutes, then slice each thigh into 3 thick slices.
• Meanwhile, combine 3/4 cup tare with 8 cups of dashi in a large saucepan. Bring the soup to a boil over medium heat and keep warm. Taste for seasoning and adjust with additional tare or dilute with filtered water as needed. Once the soup is boiling, carefully taste and stir in a splash of the sake if desired.
• Cook the udon noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to the package directions. Using tongs or a noodle scooper, remove the noodles from the cooking water, rinse in cool running water, drain and divide among 4 large soup bowls. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute. Drain the spinach, pressing to remove as much water as possible, and divide among each serving of noodles.
• Ladle the boiling soup over the spinach and noodles in each bowl and top each with 3 slices of chicken. Slice the cooked eggs in half lengthwise. In each bowl, place 2 egg halves and a quarter of the scallions, then garnish with a quarter of the julienned ginger. Garnish each bowl with shichimi togarashi if using and a strip of lemon zest. Serve immediately.

MAKE-IT-YOUR-OWN UDON NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Prepare noodles according to package directions, and drain. Toss with a teaspoon of sesame, olive, vegetable or canola oil to prevent them from sticking together, and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil until it shimmers, and sauté the grated ginger and garlic until you smell it (less than a minute). Do your best not to burn it. Add 2 cups of stock to the pot. Be careful - it might splatter.
• Bring the stock to a boil, and lower the heat to a simmer (about medium-low). Add carrots (or any hard, root vegetables, if using), and cook until they are crisp-tender, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add tofu or any vegetables (except spinach), and cook until tender but still bright in color, about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat, and cover to keep warm.
• In a small pot, heat the remaining 1 cup of stock until it steams. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the miso paste until the miso is completely dissolved, then pour the entire miso mixture into the pot with the soup. (If using soy sauce instead of miso, skip this part and add the rest of the stock and soy sauce.) Stir in the cooked noodles and fresh spinach, if using, and heat through over medium-low, if necessary. Do not bring the soup to a boil with the miso: Some cooks believe this can ruin the miso's delicate flavor. Top as desired and season additionally, if desired, with soy sauce.

CHICKEN-UDON SOUP WITH HIJIKI AND SPINACH LEAVES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cover the hijiki with cold water by 2 inches and let soak until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the water and reserve the hijiki.
• Remove the skin from the chicken and discard. Shred the meat with your hands and set aside.
• Cook the noodles according to package directions. Rinse under cold water until cool and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan over high heat, whisk together the miso and 8 cups cold water. Bring to a boil and set aside.
• Divide the chicken, noodles, hijiki, spinach and scallions among 4 large bowls. Return the miso to a boil and pour an equal amount into each bowl, using a fork to stir the ingredients around in each bowl. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil into each bowl. Serve immediately.