monster noodle rally volume 1. miso

1.First select your preferred noodle
I usually pick either udon(not anymore sadly),rice noodle, yam noodles, soynoodles, or all buckwheat soba for this app.
(note for gf folks....most soba is at least half wheat. Please read the ingredients carefully.) 
2.determine how many people will be eating (you can assume most people will want about one cup broth so I use the ratio of one per person plus one for the pot for every three people)
this version assumes 4 people -this  soup doesn't store well so try to guestimate
3.make sure you have:
  2 packages udon or yam noodle or 2 bundles soba for 4 people
 1/2 recipe bake-fried tofu (recipe follows) or prepared fried tofu
 1 lb various veggies in bite sized pieces
  (bokchoy, carrots, sliced bell peppers,chard, lotus root,celery, steamed slices of sweet potato or hard squash,zucchini, broccoli,dandelion greens spinach, cabbage, mung sprouts  whatever you like or need to use up )

 4. to make  broth:
    boil 5 cups water
    add 3 tb soysauce
    add 2-3 inches kombu , or mix of kombu and wakame (or nori if you can't get it) and allow to water to turn faintly yellow or green.
Add 2-4 whole or a handful of sliced rehydrated dried shitake (fresh will not work here)
Optional add ins to broth are garlic, ginger or 1/2 a cleaned leek worth of leek rings
    (In lawrence: kombu , wakame ,nori, lotus root, Shaoixing wine etc are available inexpensively at the little asian market in the strip mall across from checkers or ,weirdly, hy vee)
5.Add the noodles tofu and veggies now. these will boil quicker than wheat noodles so keep an eye out.3-5 minutes
6. Remove two cups of broth add 3 tb white miso  and mix until miso is dissolved and there are no chunks . a fork is good here. add to your slurry  1 oz shaoxing wine or a shot of sake. DO NOT ADD this until you turn off the heat. When miso is boiled it curdles and gets an unpleasant grainy texture. Pour in and mix miso with the rest of the soup.

1.using a pasta fork remove the solids and fill your bowls
garnish as desired:
At home we usually use sesame oil and sesame seeds or furikake, & green onion,sometimes red pepper flakes sriracha or gochujang , sometimes cilantro. Sometimes an egg fried over easy. Use your imagination. Since we keep this stuff on hand this is a go to week night supper and Steph says it cures colds. I used to rely on matzo ball soup for my illnesses, but now it's corn noodle soup or sambhar.