I made a new Portland discovery on my ride home after attending the Brunch on the Bridge. I passed by an Asian market named Anzen Hiroshi’s. I was very excited—the only known (to me) close-in Asian market. The market was full of fresh sushi quality fish and an assortment of other Asian food items. (I highly recommend it to other Portlanders.) Knowing I had a garden full of bok choy, I decided to purchase some items to make udon noodle soup. At home, I had an assortment of other Asian spices. I invited my friend Becca over and suddenly it was a mini Asian dinner party, complete with Sake.
The soup was completely experimental, but it turned out pretty well. Since then, Becca has been hounding me to post the recipe. I finally decided to sit down and write it up to the best of my memory. So, here it goes.
Ingredients (makes two large bowls):
· 3 cups of vegetable broth (or broth of choice, including beef, chicken or mushroom)
· 1.25 cups of water
· 2.5 tablespoons of soy sauce
· ½ teaspoon of fish sauce
· 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar
· 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
· 1 head of bok choy
· 1 large clove of garlic (crushed)
· 1 half of a small onion
· 1 cup or more of shitake and oyster mushrooms
· 1 quarter pound of meat of choice (chicken, shrimp, beef) or tofu
· 1 egg
· Udon noodles prepared for two according to package instructions
· Red pepper flakes as desired for heat
Prepare the udon noodles (follow instructions on the package), drain and add noodles (equally) to two bowls.
Saute the garlic and onion in the sesame oil until the onion is translucent and soft. Add the meat (if you have thinly sliced Asian meat or tofu, this can be added at the end to the boiling water). Clean and chop the bok choy in medium pieces. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them into the medium-sized pieces. Add the bok choy and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until soft. Mix together the broth, water, soy sauce, fish sauce, and vinegar. Add the broth mixture to the pot and bring it to a boil. Add the egg, allowing it to cook for a few seconds. Then, stir in the egg. The egg will thicken the broth.
Add the soup to the bowls on top of the noodles and serve with a glass of sake and a side of edamame. Enjoy!
