There is nothing more delicious than fresh noodles, sea food and fresh veggies on a cool spring night.
And if you’re economic like me, there’s nothing better than all of that on a single plate and in every delicious bite.
After a year of tweaking, I’ve finally found my perfect dish after trying a version of this soup in an instant noodle bowl that has since changed. (saddd faccceee)
I present to you…
Stinky Noodle Platter
Make at your own caution.
Ingredients:
1 package of bonito flakes
1 kombu kelp
2 cups water
1 bottle clam juice
1 tbp sesame oil
1 tsp turmeric powder
5 raw shrimp
6 oz salmon fillet
2 bunches of bok choy, chopped
¼ cup grated daikon
1 tsp grated ginger
3 cloves of garlic, grated
½ onion
8 shitake mushroom, diced fine
½ zucchini, julienne fine
½ package of fresh noodles
Dash of salt and sugar to taste
Dash of mirin (sweet cooking sake) to taste
This recipe calls for a lot of prep work, but once you have that out of the way, you’re golden.
Alright, to start – soak the kombu kelp in the water for a half hour, no heat.
While waiting, cut the onion into bite size pieces.
Cut the bok choy leaves into fine shreads.
Grate the daikon.
Dice the shitake mushrooms.
By now, the kombu kelp has hydrated, so turn the heat on and let it come to a soft boil. Add the bonito flakes and set on medium low.
Back to veggies!
Grate the garlic cloves.
Charming to look at, huh?
Grate the ginger.
I’m a huge fan of keeping my station clean, so everything onto a plate or dish if you haven’t already.
Back to cutting!
Cut the zucchini in half. Cut that piece in half. Cut that half of a half (zucchini inception anyone?) into three pieces width wise. Cut that now length wise.
Onto the plate it goes!
Now we can start cooking.
Add the sesame oil to the largest pan you can find.
Add the onions, garlic and ginger to the pan and sauté. Add salt and turmeric.
Why turmeric now?
Oils really bring out the flavor of spices better than any sort of heating or cooking method. If I added the turmeric later, I wouldn’t get as much flavor and I really love the taste of turmeric.
Let this cook until a gorgeous golden caramel color.
Let’s check on our bonito/kelp stock – it looks plenty disgusting, which means it is done.
Add the rest of the vegetation to the pan and sauté until slightly softened.
If you were a quitter, you would stop now and devour this pan.
But you’re not a quitter, are you? You know paradise is just a bit more away.
Separate the stock from the solids, we won’t be using that (I mean, you can if you want, but I don’t).
Add the claim juice.
Add the sugar to taste (shut up, I like it a little sweet).
Add the dash of mirin.
Set to medium.
After 10 or so minutes, I add a little bit of vegan butter (curse you lactose intolerance) for extra creaminess. You don’t have to, I just do.
Now, you could stop right here, add the noodles and be done with it. But we’re going full stop here.
Onto the seafood goodness!
Peel the shrimp from their shells.
I don’t mind the skin from the salmon (and it holds it together), so drop that right into the stock.
Nestle that shrimp in there good.
Alright, I forgot to take pictures of this, but add the noodles straight into the broth once the shrimp and salmon are about down. It’ll take only a couple minutes and really thicken up the soup into a sauce.
Serve on a single plate with a nice garnish of black sesame seeds.
Enjoy.
Fin.
Rating:
I’m still dreaming of the next time I can make this.
Now, this is a very flexible recipe – you can use whatever vegetables, spices and meat you want. You can make it spicy, you can add cheese, you can make it into a completely different taste. The choice is up to you.
Good luck!