Mushroom noodle soup with smoked tofu
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
It doesn’t take long to make a flavourful noodle soup – this recipe uses porcini mushrooms, ginger, aromatic spices and smoked tofu to create something really special in about half an hour.
By John Whaite
Ingredients
- 40g/1½oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 litre boiling water
- 2 nests (about 40g/1½oz each) wholewheat noodles
- 2 reduced-sodium vegetable or beef stock pots
- 60g/2¼oz fresh root ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 star anise
- 4 cardamom pods, bruised
- 1 red chilli, sliced
- 1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce or fish sauce
- 4 spring onions, roughly chopped
- 200g/7oz smoked tofu, cut into 2cm/¾in cubes
- 200g/7oz choi sum (Chinese cabbage) or Tenderstem broccoli, sliced
- 150g/5½oz baby spinach, roughly chopped
- small handful coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds
Method
First, soak the porcini mushrooms. Put them in a mixing bowl and pour over the boiling water. Leave to soak while you prepare the noodles.
Fill a saucepan with water, bring to the boil and cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, usually for about 5 minutes. Drain when cooked, then tip back into the dry pan and set aside.
Drain the mushrooms, catching the soaking water in a medium saucepan and setting the mushrooms aside on a board. Add the stock pots, ginger, garlic, star anise, cardamom, chilli, soy sauce, spring onions and tofu to the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add the choi sum or broccoli for the final 2 minutes of cooking.
Divide the noodles between two serving bowls, add the spinach, coriander and mushrooms, then pour over the stock. Finish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
