My plan for this week was to research and prepare miso soup, in
part because four of the recipe’s five ingredients were foods I had
never used before.
My plan for this week was to research and prepare miso soup, in part because four of the recipe’s five ingredients were foods I had never used before.
Therein lay my comeuppance. Like the computer program that quickly reaches the 90 pecent-done mark and then languishes, the recipe’s ingredients were all easy to find … except one.
The miso itself (a fermented soybean paste), the wakame (a type of dried seaweed) and the soft tofu were all quickly located at local supermarkets. I found the katsuobushi, or dried bonito flakes, on a quick trip to Whole Foods.
But the konbu, or dried kelp, continues to elude me.
I tried Trader Joe’s, and I tried a produce market run by a Japanese fellow (but featuring all kinds of items, not just Japanese). No luck.
Miso itself is a fascinating food. A mainstay of Japanese and Korean cooking, miso can vary is its base ingredient and in color. The most common uses a base of rice, but it can also be made with barley or all soy. The base ingredient is combined with soy and a mold culture, and then it’s fermented.
The result is a paste that is shelf stable when unopened and long lasting when refrigerated. Now that I’m aware of it, recipes for it keep popping up in my reading, so I see lots of experiments ahead.
In the meantime, while my packet of miso sits in the cupboard waiting for the konbu, I went ahead and made the other dish I had planned to serve, udon noodle salad with grilled chicken and Asian dressing.
Somehow when I chose this recipe, I didn’t read it carefully and was imagining a leafy green Asian chicken salad with noodles interspersed with the other ingredients. My imagination was so strong that I planned to serve it to my niece and nephew, ages 13 and 15, who aren’t always crazy about adventurous foods but have been observed enjoying Benihana and leafy green Asian Chicken salads.
As I worked through the recipe, however, I began to fear I’d end up throwing a frozen pizza in the oven to save the meal.
What leaves there were – cilantro and parsley – actually got pureed in the blender. The other vegetable ingredients, ginger and garlic, were used to marinate the chicken, then tossed out.
I slogged on, fearing that my preparation would be met with scorn and the embarrassed pushing of noodles around on the plate.
To my delight and surprise, both the niece and nephew gobbled the salad with eagerness. The niece even went back for seconds. The adults thought it was pretty tasty too, so I’ll be making it again when I finally find some konbu for the miso soup.
Here is the recipe:
Udon Noodle Salad with Grilled Chicken and Asian Dressing
(adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl, Houghton Mifflin 2004)
Serves 4
4 servings
4 small skinless boneless chicken breast halves (1 to 1 1/2 pound total)
3 Tbs. soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger root
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
2 cups loosely packed cilantro sprigs plus 1/4 cup loosely packed leaves
1 cup fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
1/2 pound dried udon or soba noodles
3 scallions, thinly sliced
Step 1: In a sealable plastic bag, combine chicken with garlic, ginger root, and 1 Tbs. vinegar and marinate, chilled, one hour.
Step 2: Prepare grill.
Step 3: Discard marinade and grill chicken on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals 4 minutes on each side or until just cooked through. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm, covered. (You could also used a ridged grill pan on top of the stove or even a plain nonstick frying pan as I did. The residual marinade helps the skinless chicken brown nicely.)
Step 4: In a small saucepan, heat coriander, parsley, broth and oils until mixture just begins to boil. Remove from heat and in a blender puree until smooth. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup vinegar. I did not add any additional seasoning but you could taste for salt.
Step 5: In a 6-quart kettle, bring 3 1/2 quarts salted water to a boil and cook noodles 2 minutes. Stir in 1 cup cold water and bring to boil again. Simmer noodles until just tender, about five minutes. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse under cold water.
Step 6: Cut chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Divide dressing among four shallow bowls and top with noodles, chicken, cilantro leaves and scallions.
And here is the recipe for miso soup that got me started on this adventure.
Miso Soup
(adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl, Houghton Mifflin 2004)
Serves 6
Dashi (the basic broth)
1 (2- to 3-inch piece) kombu (dried kelp)
3 cups cold water
1 (5-gram) package katsuo bushi (dried bonito flakes; 1/2 cup)
2 Tbs. shiro miso (white fermented-soybean paste)
1/4 pound soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 Tbs. thinly sliced scallion greens
Special equipment: cheesecloth
First, make dashi.
Step 1: Wipe any sand or salt from kombu with a dampened cloth. Bring kombu and water just to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat. Remove kombu with tongs and reserve for another use.
Step 2: Sprinkle katsuo bushi over liquid and remove pan from heat. Let stand three minutes, then pour through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl. (The bonito flakes can be saved, refrigerated, to sprinkle over rice.)
Then, assemble the soup:
Step 3: Stir together miso and 1/4 cup dashi in a bowl until smooth. Heat remaining dashi in saucepan over moderately high heat until hot, then gently stir in tofu. Simmer one minute and remove from heat. Immediately stir in miso mixture and scallion greens and serve.
