Vegan Kitsune Soba (Japanese Buckwheat Noodle Soup)
Ingredients
8 oz soba noodles
2 pieces of kombu, about 4 inches each or 15g
6 shiitake mushrooms, fresh or dried
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 large carrot, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
4 sheets aburaage tofu
Additional but optional Soup Toppings:
Enoki mushrooms
Wakame, (seaweed)
Ginger paste
Ground Japanese chili pepper blend, (Shichimi togarashi)
Scallions
Ground toasted sesame seeds
Directions
To make vegan dashi/stock:
In a large pot, add 4 cups of water, kombu, mushrooms, gluten-free soy sauce, mirin, sliced carrot and minced garlic. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium heat for 20 minutes.
To cook the soba noodles:
Bring a separate pot of water to boil.
Stir in the soba noodles and reduce to medium heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Drain and rinse soba under cool running water. Set aside.
To serve:
Add buckwheat noodles to a bowl, spoon in the hot broth, then top with a piece of aburaage or deep-fried tofu. You can also add other desired toppings at this point.
Notes
Avoid rinsing the kombu before using. Kombu is often covered with a white coating. These are the natural compounds which give the dashi the rich umami flavours.
To extract the most flavour from kombu, soaking it overnight in cold water is the traditional method used. This ensures a slow and full release of the flavour compounds in kombu, which gives the dashi that rich umami flavour.
The stock with kombu and mushrooms is then brought to a boil for 20 minutes to thicken the soup slightly and extract flavours from the mushrooms.
More vegan Japanese recipes: Vegan Nabe Hot Pot Soup, Vegan Rice Burger with Kinpira, Vegan Tofu Teriyaki Stir-fry.