The weather has been dreary since last week’s terrible storm. The drop in temperature has triggered my cravings for soupy dishes. Today seems like a suitable day to prepare soup noodles – comfort food in the middle of autumn. I’m tempted to prepare udon noodles in mushroom soup. For this dish, I need a medium-sized saucepan and a frying pan, one for the soup and the latter for light frying. Fresh seafood can be used in the dish but I choose to lightly fry fish balls instead.
Ingredients
1 packet udon noodles
1 onion, sliced
1 inch ginger, chopped
5 cloves,garlic, chopped
1 green chilli, sliced
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 bak choy, sliced
100g cup mushrooms, sliced
1 packet shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 packet fish balls
250 g vegetable stock
2 cups water
1/2 cube anchovy stock
pepper
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
cooking oil
For garnish
fried shallots
1 sprig spring onions, chopped
Method
Prior to soup preparation, soften udon noodles in boiling water. Drain noodles after 2-3 minutes.
1. In a saucepan, heat oil and fry onions till soft and transparent.
2. Add garlic, ginger and green chili and fry for a minute.
3. Add mushrooms till they soften. Add 1/2 anchovy stock, crush it and mix it well. Add a little water.
4. Let the ingredients simmer for another 3 mins. Cover saucepan with a lid.
5. Once the mushroom juice has oozed out, add vegetable stock and water.
6. Add pepper, dried chilli flakes and soy sauce for taste and mix well.
7. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add thawed fish balls and fry them lightly.
8. Remove the fish balls and leave aside.
9. In the same pan, add chopped bak choy and oyster sauce. Mix well.
10. Add pepper to taste.
To serve
Place noodles in a bowl. Add bak choy and fish balls. Scoop up soup with a ladle and pour over the ingredients. Then, garnish with spring onions and fried shallots for added taste and texture.
After thoughts
If you prefer to have additional protein in your dish, introducing hard boiled egg to the dish is an option. Add more chilli flakes or fresh red chillies for that added kick. Udon noodles work better in a stir fry dish as they cling well to the sauce used in cooking. However, when prepared in soup, the noodles may be a little bland. Hence to counteract this, the soup has to be spicy. Best served hot, this is one nutritious dish you should try in winter or on a damp, rainy day.