Miso Ginger Broth with Soba.

This is vegan miso broth soul food.  Packed with goodness…and full of the flavours of Japan.   Give your immune system a boost … with this ninja-karate-kicking bowl of wonder 🙂

A traditional miso broth is unlikely to be vegan, so I’ve made a base stock with fresh vegetables, ginger and seaweed to enrich the depth of flavour.

The ginger in this recipe really sings, and I’ve used a dark hearty miso to match it.

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There are some more unusual ingredients included here today – particularly Kombu and Wakame seaweed and also Mirin; Japanese sweet rice cooking wine. Seaweed is just such a good addition to a varied vegan diet, full of minerals and trace elements. Some types are more readily available than others, but a decent whole-food store should have them.  Or else on-line…. chase them down, you won’t regret it 🙂

Any signs of a cough or a cold this winter, and I’ll be making this…. well any excuse actually, it’s just so good.

Hope you enjoy! 🙂

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MISO GINGER BROTH WITH SOBA

serves 3-4

Cook’s note: 100% buckwheat noodles, certified gluten-free tamari and brown rice miso will make this dish gluten-free 

Ingredients:

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Savoury Seacakes with Carrot and Parsnip chips, Peas in a Pea Sauce and Caper Mayo.

 

What we are doing to the oceans and its inhabitants is nothing short of criminal.

We are plundering the seas and leaving them empty and dying.  We are chucking our insane piles of rubbish into the ocean as though it was simply our own personal garbage bin.  We are destroying the balance of the extraordinary and complex eco-systems of the oceans, and thereby desecrating the planet as a whole.  We, as a race, are apparently unstoppable….and yet millions of people are working at turning this behaviour around.

I am truly in awe of, and grateful to,  all those on the front line trying to defend our seas: conservationists, cove monitors, sea-farers and fund-raisers….and many many more…

I am also glad to hear that the Taiji drive hunt season is officially over, until next September at least.

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Here is my small oceanic offering, my ‘food for peace’. In the light of all the brutality and destruction.

Savoury Seaweed cakes, with a few classic flavours: lemon, mustard, capers, horseradish and mayonnaise.  And also accompanied by just the faintest scent of sea air…….

Seacakes with peas in a pea sauce and carrot and parsnip chips + caper mayo!

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But first, a brief introduction to seaweed.

Clock-wise starting top left: Arame. Nori sheet. Wakame. Dulse.

Quinoa, Miso and Arame Seaweed Soup, with Baked Marinaded Tofu and garnished with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Nori

quinoa miso and seaweed soup + baked marinaded tofu

I have to say, that eating seaweed has never been at the top of my personal ‘to do’ list, but I have warmed to it recently.

There are many kinds of seaweed, and if you’re already a connoisseur, you can skip this bit.

If seaweed is new to you, then I would suggest that the two best types of seaweed to begin with could be Arame and Nori.

dried seaweeds – nori and arame

The following recipe includes  both.