Sunday, July 26, 2009

Udon Noodle Bowl!

By far one of my favorite things to get when I go out to eat are Vietnamese(Pho) noodle bowls. However, since I live in the middle of bloody nowhere and I have never seen a Vietnamese restaurant in all of Southeast Michigan(I'm sure one does exist somewhere, I just don't know where that is). So, naturally, I had to find an acceptable recipe so I could make it myself. It did take me until last week to actually find some udon noodles that didn't have cornstarch though(Eden Organic is the brand if you happen to be in Michigan, I've never seen them outside of here). Anyway, I took the majority of this recipe from a gluten-free website that I can no longer remember. If I do, I'll say it in the comments.

Broth:
8 cups vegetable broth (either make your own[look at veganyumyum for a good recipe for that] or Pacific and Imagine brands both make corn-free pre-made broths)
1/3 cup Tamari (a more flavorful kind of soy sauce)
2 small unpeeled onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled (still whole)

A 1-inch piece of ginger, coarsely sliced

Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp szechuan peppercorn

3-4 allspice berries (these may be small but they pack a wallop, so watch out)
1/4 teaspoon tumeric (optional, and I accidently put in too much last time which created a bitter aftertaste unfortunately)
Sprinkling white pepper
Sesame Oil
Lime juice

Soup Fillings:
1/2 Pound Udon Wheat Noodles or Rice Noodles


1/2 of a large Radikon

3-4 cups Sugar Snap Peas

2-3 medium carrots

1/2 package(of a total six ounces, I believe) baby bella mushrooms

A small head of broccoli

1/2 cup bean sprouts
A few green onions

Whatever else you want (I actually put parsnips in this one actually, as I had one sitting around)

Optional: 8 oz pan browned tofu, to give some more protien and filling power.


To start the broth, throw everything in a stock pot except for the broth and dry char everything until the onions and garlic are starting to blacken a bit then slowly add in the broth. Let the brother slowly simmer for an hour covered, then run it through a colinder to filter out all the onions, garlic, etc...

Once the broth is finished, things move fairly quickly. Cook the noodles and add the prepped(mostly chopped) vegetables to the soup itself, only around five minutes before actually serving (leave out the green onions for now). If you're adding in tofu, do it at the same time as the vegetables. After cooking all the vegetables, add in some sesame oil(I'd start with 1/4-1/2 tsp) and then serve the soup onto the noodles. This is actually somewhat important, as if you leave rice noodles sitting in water they'll disinigrate and become fairly unappetizing (very important if you have leftovers). Add in the chopped green onions at the last moment for the best flavor from them. If the flavor is too spicy or intense from the allspice, I recommend adding in the lime juice to help counter that.
My final product(my broth is dark because I cook it in a poorly seasoned ca
st iron pan, which causes the iron to leech in and darken the broth):

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