Japanese Squash And Soba Noodle Soup Food

JAPANESE SQUASH-AND-SOBA-NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Bring water and kombu to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat, stir in bonito flakes, and let stand 5 minutes. Pour broth through a fine sieve into a bowl, discard solids, and return broth to pan.
• Add soy sauce, squash, and mushrooms to broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, about 10 minutes. Season with more soy sauce if desired.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles, and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are al dente, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water.
• Divide noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle soup over noodles, dollop with tofu, and garnish with scallions.

ROASTED SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place the squash, cut side down, on baking sheets and roast for 45 minutes, or until flesh is soft. Scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Saute the onion, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook 1 minute. Add the apples and sherry and simmer for 10 minutes, or until apples soften.
• Puree batches of the squash flesh and broth in a food processor or blender. Transfer the squash puree to a large saucepan. Puree the apple/sherry mixture and stir into pureed squash.
• Heat over medium heat and season with salt, pepper and cayenne, to taste.

SOBA NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oven (or a toaster oven) to 300. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In another large pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil; stir in the bonito flakes, turn off the heat and steep for 10 minutes, no more. Strain into a large bowl; discard the flakes.
• Put the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and a pinch of salt in the pot you used to make the broth; bring to a boil. Let it boil for a minute, then add the bonito stock; bring it back to a boil, and transfer 6 cups to a separate pot and keep hot. (This will be the broth for the soup; what remains is for cooking the eggs.) Toast the nori in the oven until slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. Cut into quarters and set aside. Crack the eggs into a bowl or a large measuring cup with a spout and beat until frothy.
• Cook the noodles in the boiling water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes, then drain, quickly rinse under cold running water and drain again. Put a portion of noodles into each of four soup bowls. Using a circular pouring motion, slowly stream the eggs, 1/3 at a time, into the smaller amount of boiling broth; as the first third sets, add the second; as the second sets, add the third, then turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for a minute. In the meantime ladle the stock (the one without the eggs in it) over the noodles. Use a slotted spoon to scoop a portion of the egg into each bowl, garnish with the nori and scallions and serve.

JAPANESE SOBA NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Break the noodles in half and cook them in a large saucepan according to package directions until al dente, then drain. Rinse briefly with cool water.
• Meanwhile, combine the broth, mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and ginger in a soup pot. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• Stir in the scallions, tofu, spinach, and optional bok choy. Cover and cook until the spinach is wilted but still bright green, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the noodles. Add about 2 cups water, or enough to give the soup a dense but not overly crowded consistency. Season with pepper and additional soy sauce if needed. Heat through and serve at once.
• Per serving:
• Calories: 196
• Total fat: 3g
• Protein: 10g
• Fiber: 3g
• Carbohydrate: 33g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 511mg