Udon Bowl - My New Comfort Food

Whenever I am having a bad day, I crave starchy, salty, carb-rich foods. Potatoes, pasta, rice, noodles are all in my top ten. Something about it just makes me feel better. I have been slowly acquiring the ingredients for a good stir-fry or Asian soup and today was the day.

As soon as I finished my big Udon bowl I felt immediately better... Actually, as soon as I finished my seconds. To go with my noodle bowl I made Braised Daikon from the Kind Diet, get the recipe here. I saved the liquids that it cooked in to flavour my Udon noodle bowl broth. If you don't want to make this, flavour the broth with about 1/4 cup of mirin and 1-2 Tbsp of Shoyu.

Cure-all Udon Bowl
- Package of Udon (or any kind) of noodles
- one celery, sliced
- one leek, sliced
- handful of mint leaves
- 2 leaves of bok choy, chopped
- 2-3 kale leaves, chopped
- 2" daikon, chopped
- 1/3 block of silken tofu, chopped
- handful of shiitake mushrooms, chopped
- 2 to 3 Tbsp of miso
- liquids from braised Daikon
- 4 to 5 cups of water
- 1 to 2 vegetable bouillon cubes

Now, I think I have said this before when making something like a noodle bowl or stir fry. Use the veggies that you have. I forgot to include carrots and I think they would have been awesome here. In the world of veggies, there is not much that wouldn't work.  I even thought about throwing in some lima beans, but got scared... next time!

Put water and bouillon cubes in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. While waiting for it to boil, prep the veggies. Once the water is boiling add in the vegetables in order of cooking time. Then add in the noodles and last, add in the tofu. Let it simmer for a while (I simmered it about 15 minute).Add in the reserved liquid from the braised Daikon or add the mirin and shoyu.

Once soup is looking ready take out about a cup of the water and stir into it the miso paste. Take the soup off the heat and add the miso in and stir.  Let it sit for a few minutes and then taste. Adjust seasonings as needed.

I have to admit, I did not really follow the instructions here. I was so tired when i got home, I just threw everything into a pot as soon as the water boiled and crossed my fingers. Surprise - It worked OK! I did end up adding a little bit extra miso to mine because I was craving something salty. I will leave that one up to you.

Something tells me this is going to be one of those things that tastes even better on day two. Can't wait! Thank you Udon bowl, bad day has been kicked to the curb!