Japanese-style soup fast food! This healthy, vegan, and easy Japanese Udon Noodle Soup with Miso takes less than 25 minutes to make.
Which vegetables for udon noodle soup?
Like me, you can use almost any type of vegetable. The only thing you have to watch out for, however, is to cut the vegetables so thinly that they cook evenly and quickly. For example, you need to cut carrots into 1 to 2 mm thin slices that cook them in just a few minutes. You should do the same with the stalks of cauliflower or broccoli. You can cut them crosswise or like a fan, for example. Otherwise, you are free to choose peas, carrots, fresh mushrooms (shiitake, button mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, shimeji, etc.), seaweed, fresh mung bean sprouts, spinach, cherry tomatoes and so on.
Japanese udon noodles
Japanese udon noodles are white, very thick and slightly chewy wheat-based noodles. You can buy the noodles dried or fresh in almost every shop. If you prefer gluten-free noodles, try the shirataki noodles , made with a konjac flour alternative.
Dried udon is available at most grocery stores, which offer an assorted Asian selection of foods. Did you know that you don’t need to salt the cooking water when cooking udon noodles? Almost all Asian-style noodles already contain salt, so adding it is unnecessary.
Fresh udon noodles are already done and cooked. You only need to cook about a minute to warm the noodles. Follow package instructions and you can reheat the noodles right in the soup.
PS: If you can’t get udon noodles, you can use ramen noodles or any other type of noodle.
miso paste
Miso is what makes this udon noodle soup so tasty. Miso is fermented soybean paste and the main ingredient in Japanese miso soups. It is an Asian staple and belongs in every fridge there. You can also store miso in the fridge, as it keeps for quite a long time. Miso can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 months, which is plenty of time to cook many of these delicious miso paste recipes. I prefer the light miso “shiro miso” because it’s less salty and milder than red miso “aka miso” or brown miso “shinshu miso” .
If you like our Japanese Udon Noodle Soup, you may also be interested in these recipes:
- Japanese soup with vegan dashi
- exotic sweet potato kohlrabi soup
- Teriyaki Baked Japanese Eggplant
- spicy miso ramen with shiitake mushrooms
- Pasta in creamy ricotta pumpkin cream
easy & vegan udon noodle soup
Equipment
Ingredients
basic ingredients:
- 1-2 tbsp. Sesame oil*
- 5 tbsp. light soy sauce*
- 150 grams mushrooms or king oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, enoki…
- 500 ml vegetable broth
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 pc fresh ginger* hazelnut size
- 2 tbsp. miso paste* bright
- 100 grams udon noodles*
Vegetables of your choice, here are just a few suggestions:
- carrots
- Pak choi
- spring onions
- broccoli
- snow peas sugar snap pods
- spinach
- mung bean sprouts
Topping:
- black sesame*
- cress
Instructions
- Clean the mushrooms and cut into not too thin slices.
- Peel the garlic and cut into thin slices.
- Peel the ginger and also cut into thin slices.
prepare different vegetables. If you choose:
- Carrots: peel and cut into 1 – 2 mm thick slices.
- Spring onions: wash and cut the green into fine rings and set aside to sprinkle over the finished soup. Divide the white into pieces about 2 cm long. Halve thick pieces lengthways.
- Broccoli: Wash and cut into small florets, making criss-cross cuts on the stalks to cook through quickly.
- Snow peas: wash and cut diagonally into strips.
- Pak Choi: wash and cut in half. Quarter large specimens.
Cooking Udon Noodles:
- In a separate saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add the udon noodles and let them simmer.
- Use dried udon noodles, cook according to package directions.
- Oh, and by the way, most udon is salted, so you don’t need to add salt to the cooking water.
the actual cooking:
- In a saucepan, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat and sauté the mushrooms until golden brown. Take out and set aside.
- Put the garlic and ginger slices in the pot and fry briefly.
- Deglaze with the vegetable stock and stir in the miso paste and soy sauce.
- Now add your prepared vegetables to the soup and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Drain the udon and spread over the bowls with the mushrooms. Serve the vegetable soup on top.
- Serve sprinkled with spring onion rings, cress and/or black sesame.
