I serve asian noodle soups such as ramen and pho at local markets, and often sell out quickly. It is a sustainable market for local production for local consumption, and the customers are environmentally conscious, and I have quite a lot of vegetarian/vegan customers.
Since it's Veganuary this month, I'm going to introduce the recipe of the soup-base I also use at the market. It is a delicate and tender Asian soup with a light flavor of cinnamon and star anise.
Ingredients (4 servings)
2 dried shiitake mushrooms (soak them in 200ml of water, do not discard the water)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil such as sesame oil
1 garlic clove
5 slices ginger
10 cm green part of spring onion, 3-4 sticks
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
about 5 grains pepper
800 ml water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
Optional: chili pepper, coriander seeds, cloves etc
How to make the soup base
crush garlic and saute in a pan with ginger slices and green onions until fragrant.
add the spices and saute lightly.
add shiitake mushrooms, the shiitake flavored water 200ml and normal water 800 ml. Be careful for hot oil!
add soy sauce, salt and sugar, bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Let it sit until the soup cools down.
remove the shiitake mushrooms and strain the soup (You can use the shiitake for topping)
How to use the soup
Cook rice noodles, top with tofu slices, tons of herbs, garnish with lemon, and your pho is ready to serve. This is the easiest way to use the soup base. The pho in the photo on top of the post was made in this way.
The other day I learned that in France there is a red pho called "Pho Sate." I cooked it with leftover tomato based vegetables stew thinned with this broth and added peanut butter. It was very delicious.
Stir fry vegetables, lightly simmer them in this broth, add Chinese noodles, and you have ramen 🍜
