Soba Noodle Soup

Soba Noodle Soup With Shitake Mushrooms

Japanese cuisine tends to be healthier than American food and has taught me much about eating right. That’s not to say the Japanese are without health issues, but overall they are slimmer and healthier than us Americans. Most of the foods they eat are lower in fat and sugar than American foods. According to a Business Insider article from February 19,2012  us Americans were consuming one hundred pounds of sugar per year each! The Japanese consume only about forty pounds each. Their fat consumption is less also and other than pork katsu or tempura vegetables and shrimp they don’t overdo it with fat as often as we do.

Even if you didn’t make a New Year’s resolution to eat healthier I want to share a Japanese inspired soup recipe I developed using soba noodles. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat and are used often in Japanese soups and served cold dipped in broth as well. I sometimes make soba noodle salad and hope to post a recipe for spring or summer this year. Soba can be a bit high on sodium so if you are concerned with sodium be sure and by the less-sodium version sold in most Asian grocery stores. Soba soup or salad is versatile and tastes great with broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, green onions, snow peas, or edamame. For meat additions try pork, chicken, beef, salmon or tofu if you are eating a vegetarian diet.

I love how fast a from-scratch soba soup recipe comes together, and how it incorporates super healthy shitake mushrooms. This recipe of mine can take as little as twelve minutes to make  if your veggies are purchased cut-up and soup ready. It’s low-fat, easy to make and filling as well as delicious. There was a time you had to go to an Asian grocery store to buy soba noodles but I’m seeing them in many regular American grocery stores lately. If you can’t find them local try amazon.com where I found one of the brands I like, JFC Brand six pack for $17.36 plus shipping.

So please give it a try and leave comments on how you tweaked the recipe to include what you had on hand, and share on your favorite social media. Here’s to eating healthier in 2015!

Soba Noodle Soup with Shitake Mushrooms

1  quart water

2 teaspoons chicken base, or bullion cubes- see note

1  1/2 tubes of soba noodles

1 cup sliced shitake caps

2 cups chopped green or broccoli florets

1 cup shredded carrots

1 tablespoon soy sauce,optional

Bring water to a boil with bullion, or base.

Add mushrooms and noodles and cook on high for two minutes stirring often.

Add cabbage and carrots cooking for two more minutes.

Add soy sauce to taste, about 1-2 tablespoons.

Serves four.

Note:

If you are concerned with your sodium intake buy the “less sodium” soba or bullion.

To make this soup a main course add one of the following:

1-2 cups cubed tofu

1-2 cups of cooked shredded chicken, or sliced pork

Top with La-Yu hot sesame oil to kick it up!