Udon Noodle Soup

As a lover of Japanese food, I am always eager to learn how to prepare traditional recipes at home. What I love about this Udon Noodle Soup is just how adaptable it is. The chicken broth can be replaced with vegetable or beef broth and cod can be replaced with prawns, chicken, meat or tofu! You can also add or replace any of the vegetable components to suit you or whatever is in the fridge. 

This recipe, however, is by far my favourite combination. The melt-in-the-mouth cod and rich broth create a warming sensation on your taste buds. Whilst the spinach and broccolini add a welcome freshness to liven up the broth and balance the flavours. It is the perfect meal for any day. 

Ingredients

(serves 2) 

For the broth:

·     1 packet of pre boiled udon noodles

·     400 ml chicken/vegetable broth

·     1 medium onion

·     100g spinach

·     100g broccolini 

·     1 spring onion 

·     ¼ cup soy sauce

·     2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (for cooking/dressing)

·     1 inch ginger (crushed)

·     2 cloves garlic (crushed) 

·     1 pinch brown sugar

·     Salt and pepper to taste

For the fish: 

·     4 tbsp toasted sesame oil

·     2 fillets cod (make sure all bones have been removed) 

·     2 tsp soy sauce 

·     1 tbsp garlic ginger paste

·     Salt and pepper to taste

For the garnish: 

·     1 spring onion (sliced into 1cm pieces)

·     1 lemon (sliced)

Method: 

1)   Begin by washing and chopping the onion, broccolini, spring onion and spinach. 

2)   In a large pan add half of your broth along with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir to ensure that this is fully combined. 

3)   Add your prepared vegetables to the pot and bring the broth to the boil. 

4)   In the meantime, combine the toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic ginger paste, salt and pepper in to a bowl. 

5)   Place your fish onto a baking dish and brush with your sesame oil mixture. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and falls apart easily with a fork. 

6)   Using a fork, dice the cod and set aside. 

7)   Add the noodles to the boiling broth mixture along with the other half of your broth. Bring this to the boil again (approx. 8 mins).

8)   To assemble fill a bowl with the noodle soup and top with the diced cod, spring onions and lemon slices. The soup is best when served fresh off the stove. Enjoy!

This recipe also works great for meal prep as the broth can be prepared in large batches

and frozen. You can then simply add your protein, veggies and noodles (you can prepare

the protein and veg ahead of time as well) and it’s ready to go!