Lemongrass Miso Soup with Soba Noodles and Poached Egg for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

After a long holiday week and weekend when rich foods seems to rule the day, it's nice to take a break and give your body something soothing, restorative and simple. Miso soup never fails to restore me and when I have nothing in the house to eat, or more likely, that I want to eat, it is easy enough to heat some broth and stir in miso and whatever bits of vegetables or leftovers I have sitting about.

I liked the ingredients in Heidi Swanson's Lemongrass Miso Soup Broth from her blog 101 Cookbooks. She calls it a perfect light summer soup broth, but I think it is perfect year round. I made a couple of small changes based on my preferences and what I had on hand in both the broth and the resulting soup--taking some of Heidi's suggestions and adding in a few ideas of my own. My changes are noted in red below. 

Lemongrass Miso Soup Broth
Slightly adapted from Heidi Swanson via 101 Cookbooks
(Makes 8 Cups)

8 cups of water
1 Tbsp olive oil
5 lemongrass stalks, tender insides chopped
1 tsp coriander seeds
(I added 2 whole star anise)
5 medium shallots, peeled and sliced (I used 1 large leek, white & light green parts, cleaned and sliced)
5 medium garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
3 slices fresh ginger, sliced (I used 5 slices of ginger)
2 yellow tomatoes, cut into chunks (I omitted)
2-4 Tbsp miso, or to taste

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. While the water is heating, prep the rest of the ingredients and add the olive oil, lemongrass, coriander, shallots, garlic, ginger, and tomatoes as they're ready. Simmer for twenty minutes or so, or until the broth is to your liking. The longer you leave it to simmer, the stronger it will be. 

Strain the broth into a large bowl, pressing on the solids to collect as much liquid as possible. Add a splash of the broth to the miso and stir until the miso thins. Add the miso mixture to the broth and stir well. If the flavors don't pop at this point, your broth is likely under salted (miso pastes vary in saltiness). You can either add more miso, or salt to taste with salt or soy sauce. 

Enjoy on its own, or over anything from noodles, to poached eggs, rice, or dumplings.
I used sautéed leek, wilted baby kale, buckwheat soba noodles, a poached egg, toasted sesame seeds and a bit of chili oil in mine. 

Notes/Results: This was a restorative and satisfying bowl of soup with great flavor from the broth and the different components. The fragrant broth with its lemony, floral and ginger notes is complimented by the salty miso, the slight bitterness of the baby kale, the sweetness of the leek, and the nuttiness of the toasted sesame seeds and buckwheat noodles. When you add the richness of the egg and the spice of a few drops of chili oil and it takes it to over-the-top good. It is a marvelous broth to change up depending on your mood or eating style--add marinated tofu, different veggies or even some cooked protein in choice. You can let people prepare their bowls, then have the hot miso stock ready to pour into the bowl (like I did in the sake bottle in the photo above). I reserved my extra broth, just adding miso to what I was going to use today, so the miso retains its health benefits. This was the perfect lunch for a cool, windy Sunday, after a holiday week. I will happily make it again.

I'm linking up this soup to I Heart Cooking Clubs where this week's theme is "Let's Give Thanks"--Heidi Swanson dishes that we are thankful for and this soup definitely counts. You can see what dishes everyone is thankful for by checking out the picture links on the post.

 
We have some good friends in the Souper Sundays kitchen who shared some delicious dishes last week--let's have a look!

Shaheen from Allotment2Kitchen made this Aloo Tikki Bagel and said, "I am constantly amazed at how much i eat is accidentally vegan. Aloo Tikki is a South Asian snack made from spicy oniony mashed potatoes (aloo) that is shaped into cutlets or burger shapes, then coated in a spicy blend of chickpea batter and deep fried.  It important to eat it whilst it is still hot as that is when it is at its most deliciousness." 

Janet of The Taste Space shares Slow Cooker Black Bean and Plantain Chili and said, "Who else is a fan of plantains? They might seem like an exotic ingredient, but even here in Toronto, they are usually very reasonably priced and less expensive than sweet potatoes. However, unlike sweet potatoes, their shelf life is not as stable, as they can only last a few weeks until they turn all brown. I never buy them with a plan, other than panfry in coconut oil, but this recipe was excellent, and I’ll probably buy more plantains just to make it again, it was that good."

Here at Kahakai Kitchen, I made a classic soup and sandwich combo into a cocktail party treat with these Tomato-Vodka Soup Shooters with Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.  The zesty soup and buttery/cheesy sandwiches were the perfect combination of fun and delicious.

Mahalo to Shaheen and Janet for joining in this week! 

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and/or blog (optional).

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!