I've posted a number of New Year's resolution style, light and healthy veggie dishes in recent weeks but here's something different for you (still pretty healthy though and definitely tasty) - red miso udon.
I don't count myself as an authority on miso but as far as I know, this fermented soya bean paste falls into three categories - white, yellow and red. (Some people say there are four categories, with black being the fourth, but the black miso I've seen just looks like a stronger, darker version of red miso - but if you know better, please tell all).
Anyway, as you probably know, miso is made by fermenting soya beans and usually a quantity of grain or rice with salt and a fermenting culture (koji in Japanese). The colour of miso is determined by how much soya bean is used to make the miso and what is added to it - so white miso combines soya beans with white rice, which explains the light colour. Yellow miso combines soya beans with barley and red miso combines soya beans with barley or another grain such as buckwheat but uses a higher percentage of soya beans, resulting in a darker colour. The taste of miso also depends on its ingredients but also on the fermentation time - typically a white miso is left to ferment for a few months while a red one can be left for a year of longer. Shorter fermentation results in a lighter, sweeter taste with less umami flavour while a long fermentation should result in a dark, salty miso with bags of umami. Being strongly flavoured, red miso is really well suited to stews where it can hold its own against the other ingredients.
I combined miso here with udon noodles, chicken, shiitake, seafood sticks, carrot, leek and cabbage - so this really is a true one pot meal!
If you want to give this a try, you can find the Youtube video by clicking Miso udon Hotpot or scroll to to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
If you would like to browse a fish hotpot dish, why not try out my Ishikari Nabe recipe?
Miso udon Hotpot
ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
2 portions of udon
2 chinese cabbage leaves
1 leek
4 shiitake mushrooms
6 sugar snaps
40g carrot
120g boneless chicken thigh or breast
2 seafood sticks
2 tsp japanese dashi granules
700ml water
1/2 tbsp sugar
2.5 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp red miso*
2 eggs
*you can also use other types of miso, but the red variety will give you the richest flavour
how to:
cut the cabbage leaves into bite sized pieces
slice the leek diagonally
cut star marks onto the shiitake mushroom heads for a decorative effect if you wish (see the video tutorial for how to do this)
peel & slice the carrot into thick matchsticks
halve the seafood sticks diagonally
cut the chicken into bite sized pieces
pour the water & dashi granules into a large saucepan
add the mirin, sugar, and miso and stir & bring to the boil
add the carrot, leek, chinese cabbage & chicken to the pot, then bring back to the boil and cook for 5 mins
add the shiitake mushrooms & udon and cook for a further 3-4 mins
break the eggs into the centre of the pan, add the sugar snaps & seafood sticks, then cook with a lid on for 3-4 mins until the eggs are set
your dish is ready for the table
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