Quick Ramen

On our trip to Japan earlier this year I discovered a new found joy: noodle soup. Thanks to my daughter's (equally newfound) fondness of noodle soup we explored a host of different noodle soups on our 10-day trip to Japan: Udon, ramen, soba...

The ramen made the bigger impression on me and I found myself craving it after we got back. I have indulged repeatedly at Mikkeler's Ramen to Biiru (Japanese for 'Ramen and Beer') Nørrebro location.

With inspiration from Bo Bedre's December 2016 issue we felt like a quick ramen after all the roast-potatoes-gravy that is the Danish fare around winter solstice.

Ingredients:
- 1 L chicken stock
- ca. 5 tbsp duck roast cooking juices ^[1]
- 250 g egg noodles ^[2]
- 250 g brown mushrooms ^[3]
- 200-300 g pointed green cabbage ^[4]
- 1 tbsp sesame oil ^[5]
- a 2-3 cm piece of ginger, shredded
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 3-4 tbsp sesame seeds

In a pot oil was heated and the cabbage sauteed for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms. After an additional couple of minutes, shredded ginger, chicken stock, duck juices, soy sauce and oyster sauce was added and the pot was brought to a boil.

Meanwhile the noodles were boiled in a separate pot.

Portions of noodles were added soup and decorated with thinly sliced scallion and sesame seeds.

It wasn't quite as deep a flavour as the ramen I've bought in the past, but quite good for how easy it was. I am still interested in trying a more elaborate recipe.

The recipe I was inspired by used more liquid and fewer noodles (1,5 L to only 100 g noodles), but I didn't feel like we had way too many noodles for the amount of soup we had. The recipe I followed also included chicken breast (but I felt like not eating meat) and boiled eggs, which I would definitely consider adding another time.

^[1] For Christmas eve I made duck roast in a tray with a bit of water, and afterwards I collected the juices. These separated into duck fat and gelatinous cooking juices.
^[2] Branded as 'Chinese egg noodles' - possibly not true ramen noodles, but close enough.
^[3] The recipe called for shitake mushrooms, but these were not on offer at my local store.
^[4] The reipce called for kale or spinach, but I decided I liked pointed cabbage better.
^[5] Because I had some. Olive oil would have been just fine.

BBC: Bacon, Bean & Cabbage (Soup)

I'm behind here - this was something I cooked in the fall (which I'd say is a much more appropriate season for this dish). Once again with heavy inspiration from James Villas I went for a soup combining some of my favourite ingredients: bacon, beans and cabbage..

I'll trust him on his claim that this is a Serbian soup. The original recipe calls for green cabbage, but I went for red cabbage - more on this in a bit.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (~ ¹/₂ lb) bacon^[1]
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium large head of red cabbage, chopped
- 2 L (~ ¹/₂ gallon) beef broth
- 3 cans cannellini beans (drained)
- flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

The bacon was fried in a large pot until a good amount of fat had been rendered out of it, then removed from the pot. The onions and garlic were rendered soft in the bacon fat before adding the cabbage together with beef broth, beans, bacon and parsley. The pot was brought to a boil and allowed to simmer for 45 minutes before serving.

I found the soup delicious, but I have to admit the red cabbage gave the soup a special colour. A colour I personally have no problem with but which I can see why some people might not like. So I guess going for white cabbage or maybe even kale would be a good idea.<sup>[2]

[1]</sup> I used thinly sliced bacon, which I think was a mistake - I think this recipe would work better with diced bacon.
^[2] I'm not sure Villas means kale when he writes 'green cabbage' (which is what think of when I use that term). I think maybe he means what I'd call white cabbage - but there's no picture for this dish in his book, so I am not sure.

Lentil Potato Stew

With heavy inspiration from this recipe, I first tried this dish back in January when the land was covered in fluffy white blanket and it was possible to walk on the ice from island to island. It's not nearly that cold yet, although the weather is changing more and more for fall these days. In my hands this soup became so think I'd call it a stew - or at least borderline so.




Ingredients:
- 125 g (4-5 oz) bacon, cut in smaller pieces
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 jalapeño chillies, finely chopped
- fresh ginger, finely diced
- yellow curry powder
- turmeric
- 1.8 kg (4 lbs) potatoes, diced
- scoop of flour
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) chicken stock
- 500 g (~ 1 lb) green lentils
- salt
- cilantro, for serving




In a large pot, the bacon was fried on medium-high. When crisp the bacon was removed, but the fat that had been rendered out was left in the pot. To this was added onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, curry powder and turmeric.^[1] When the onion had softened, the potato dices where added. A scoop of flour was added and the contents of the pot were stirred - just so the flour coated the potatoes. Then the chicken stock and the lentils were added. The pot was brought to a boil before covering and reducing the heat. After simmering for about an hour the stew was seasoned to taste with salt and served with bacon bits and freshly chopped cilantro on top.

^[1] Yellow curry powder of course contains turmeric, but I wanted a blend that was richer in turmeric.

Chickpea and Red Pepper Soup

Chickpeas and red peppers are some of my very favourite ingredients, so when I stumbled upon this soup, I knew I had to try it.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 5 large red peppers, de-seeded, coarsely chopped
- 3 onions, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 red chillies, de-seeded, finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground coriander seed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 cans chickpeas, each 240 g (8 oz) drained
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) vegetable broth
to serve:
- fresh mint
- lime juice


In a large pot, using a little oil, the onions were sautéed till just soft before adding the bell peppers. After an additional 10 minutes the garlic, spices, chickpeas and vegetable broth were added. The pot was brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting the soup simmer for 40 minutes. The soup was partially liquefied with an immersion blender and seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper.

Served immediately with a little freshly squeezed lime juice and a few leaves of fresh mint.

Spicy Carrot Soup

This is a soup that is guaranteed to warm you up on a cold day: intensely flavourful, spicy and with a touch of sourness too.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- fresh ginger, finely diced
- 1 habanero chilli, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 onions, diced
- 265 g (9 oz) celery root, coarsely diced
- 345 g (12 oz) carrots, coarsely diced
- 5 dL (2 cups) beef (tongue) broth^[1]
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon
- 170 g (6 oz) Turkish yogurt
for decoration:
- 350 g (12 oz) carrots, finely diced
- a large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
to serve:
- some bread

In a large pot, using a little olive oil, the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli was sautéed for about 5 minutes before adding the coarse cubes of carrot and celery root. After an additional 10 minutes, the beef tongue broth^[1] was added. The soup was brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting it simmer for 40 minutes. The soup was liquefied using an immersion blender (carefully - as it was quite thick, it had some tendency to spatter if not taking care) before stirring in the lemon juice and the yogurt.

In a frying the pan, the small carrot cubes were roasted in a little olive oil and when done mixed with the parsley.

The soup was served with the carrot-parsley mixture on top and a freshly baked bun on the side.

^[1] Last time I made tongue taco I concentrated the broth down to 5 dL (2 cups) - this made for a rather concentrated broth. To obtain an equivalent one would probably need to use a combination of beef and vegetable broth - concentrated to half volume.

Leek-Lemongrass Soup

Seeking inspiration for a soup I came across the notion of a leek and lemongrass soup - and immediately thought: that sounds good... soup with lemongrass sounds like just what I want right about now.

Ingredients:
- 6 leeks, sliced at 45 degree angle (to give oval slices)
- 3 sticks lemon grass, finely cut
- oil
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon
- 3 egg yolks
- 6 tbsp Turkish yogurt
- 1.5 L (6 cups) vegetable bouillon
- ground nutmeg
- salt & pepper
coriander raita
- juice of 1 lime
- same amount olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 8 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 bunch coriander, coarsely chopped
for serving
- bread


The coriander raita was prepared first, so it could stand while preparing the soup. The juice of a lime was stirred with an equal amount of olive oil, then added salt and pepper. Finally, coarsely chopped coriander and finely sliced scallions were stirred in.

For the soup, leeks and lemon grass were cleaned, cut and mixed. The leek-lemongrass mixture was sautéed quickly in a little olive oil in portions (if you have a really huge pan you might get away with doing it in one go) making sure not to give them so much that the leeks browned or turned soft. The sautéed leek-lemongrass mixture was collected in a bowl and added lemon juice.


The egg yolks were stirred together with the yogurt and this mixture was stirred into hot (recently boiling) vegetable bouillon. Then the leek-lemongrass mixture was added together with ground nutmeg. The soup was brought to a boil and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. Then removed from the heat and served immediately with coriander raita on top and bread on the side.

Chickpea Soup 2

As the title implies, I always intended to post variations on this recipe - but somehow I forgot. Well, I recently thought about it again, and wanted to try (again) a variation in which lemon juice and soy sauce are added to taste. As things turned out, it also became a somewhat thicker soup, and the onion/parsley topping was done with an interesting twist.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 4 leeks, cleaned, sliced
- 4 cans chickpeas^[1], drained, rinsed
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) vegetable broth^[2]
- 4 tsp salt
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp brown sugar
- 0.25 L (1 cup) cream
- juice of 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- bacon fat
- 6 brown onions
- bunch flat leaf parsley
- salt & pepper
- bread for serving

In a large pot, a the leek slices were sautéed in a little olive oil (until they 'collapsed' a little), then the drained, rinsed chickpeas were added together with the vegetable broth. While the soup was brought to a boil, salt, ground cumin, brown sugar, and cream was added. Once boiling the heat was reduced, the pot was covered and allowed to boil gently for 40 minutes.

While the soup was boiling, the onions were peeled, rinsed and cut in boats. The onion boats were caramelised in bacon fat, seasoned with salt and pepper and then mixed with coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley.

After boiling the soup, it was partially liquefied using an immersion blender. Finally lemon juice and soy sauce was added to taste (I ended up using all the juice of one lemon and 4 tbsp soy sauce).

The soup was served in bowls with some caramelised onions on top and bread on the side.

Apart from the added taste of the lemon juice and soy sauce the soup was quite a bit thicker than last time - not all that bad, but I might aim for somewhere between these two extremes next time.

The most interesting part was how much flavour the bacon fat imparted on the caramelised onions - I had kind of expected the bacon notes to drown out in all the other flavours, but that wasn't the case at all. I'll use that trick again, for sure.

^[1] That was 4 cans of 410 g (14.4 oz) each, giving a total of 1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) chickpeas when drained.
^[2] I would likely have used more if I had had a larger pot.

(Asian) Fish soup

For my birthday this year, Mrs. Throat-Erator gave me dried curry and kaffir lime leaves - and then things got a little hectic, so I didn't have a lot of time to think about ways to use them for a couple of months...

But I thought they might add a nice touch to a fish soup - more specifically, I was thinking of some of the nice Asian fish soups I've tried, which I would like to emulate, so I tried it out.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 hot chillies, finely cut
- 2 fillets of pangasius, cut in chunks
- 2 fillets of tilapia, cut in chunks
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 leeks, cut in rings, white and green parts separated.
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) fish stock
- 0.5 g^[1] dried curry leaves
- 0.5 g^[2] dried kaffir lime leaves
- 250 g (¹/₂ lb) sunchokes, diced
- 3 tomatoes, diced coarsely
- 24 prawns

A little oil was heated in a large pot, and crushed garlic and finely cut chillies were sautéed for half a minute before adding chunks of fish.

After a couple of minutes, the diced onion and the white leek rings (white rings only) were added and after an additional couple of minutes, the fish stock and the dried leaves were added.

After adding diced sunchokes and large chunks of tomato, the pot was brought to a boil. The heat was reduced, the pot was covered and allowed to simmer for 10 minutes. The prawns and the green leek rings were added, and the pot was brought back to a boil and simmered for a final 5 minutes.

I was very happy with the result - the combination of of chillies, curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves resulted in exactly the fresh kind of taste I was going for, and although perhaps not traditional in Asian cuisine (although I admit I don't know) I thought the sunchokes added a really nice nuance to the flavour.

^[1] As much as you see in the picture..
^[2] ..more than you see in the picture!

Tomato Soup

I don't know about you, but for me a tomato soup must contain noodles in order to be fully satisfying - I realise this may simply be a force of habit, an opinion based on the way I remember tomato soups from my childhood more than anything else. However, knowing that doesn't change my attitude about it one bit...

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- paprika
- cayenne pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
- 2.5 L (ca. 2.5 quarts) vegetable broth
- 3 leeks, cut in rings
- 800 g (28 oz) canned crushed tomatoes
- 140 g (5 oz) canned tomato paste
- salt
- 150 g (ca. 5 oz) noodles^[1]
- fresh basil, chopped - for serving
- sour cream - for serving

Olive oil was heated in a large pot, then added paprika and generous amounts of cayenne pepper. The onion and garlic was sautéed in this until the onions were translucent. After adding the vegetable broth, leeks, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste the pot was covered and brought to a boil. The heat was reduced and the soup was allowed to simmer for 10 minutes. After seasoning to taste with salt, the noodles were added and the soup was allowed to simmer until the noodles were cooked.

Served immediately with a tsp of sour cream and some fresh basil on top.

^[1] Preferably small noodles like little elbows or small shells.

Mushroom soup & Brazil nut gremolata

Mrs. Throat-Erator had been after me for some time, trying to coax me into making this soup which she had read about, when I noticed these lovely hedgehog mushrooms at the store. And so it went, with a few modifications...

Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dried, sliced porcini mushrooms
- 7.5 dL (3 cups) warm water
- sunflower oil, twice
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled & sliced
- 1 L (4 cups) vegetable bouillon
- salt
- 188 g (6.6 oz) fresh hedgehog mushrooms, chopped coarsely
- salt and pepper
gremolata
- 90 g (3 oz) brazil nuts
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- fresh parsley, chopped
- zest of one lemon, finely grated
- 1/4 dL (almost 2 tbsp) olive oil


To begin the dried porcini mushrooms were soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and then drained without discarding the black water.

In a large pot, the carrot and onions were sautéed with a little oil for 5 minutes before adding the soaked porcini mushrooms and continuing for another 5 minutes. The mushroom water and the bouillon was added and brought to a boil. The heat was reduced, the pot was covered and allowed to simmer for 30 minutes. Afterwards it was puréed with a blender and seasoned to taste with salt.

While the soup was simmering the gremolata was prepared. The brazil nuts were toasted in a pan, chopped coarsely, and mixed with mashed garlic, lemon zest, chopped parsley, and olive oil.

The fresh hedgehog mushrooms were sautéed in a little oil with salt and pepper for 5 minutes.

The puréed soup was served with sautéed mushrooms and gremolata on top. It was very rich - I could only eat so much in one day.

Borscht

My parents have always kept a large vegetable garden - a hobby the entire family benefits from year-round. Although I have to say that neither I nor my siblings were entirely grateful for the bounty of beetroot. In our opinion our parents knew one or two recipes too many for dishes based on beetroot. Pickled beetroot were appreciated by all (e.g. as topping for liver pâté) - beetroot steaks and beetroot pâté not so much. Interestingly they never made us beetroot soup, which I think might have won me over a little more effectively - or maybe my taste just changed since then. Anyway, now it's autumn again, and therefore soup season, so I made a big pot of borscht.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 3 medium/small red onions, chopped
- 400 g (almost 1 lb) potatoes
- 800 g (almost 2 lbs) celery root
- 1500 g (over 3 lbs) beetroot
(all tubers were peeled, and cut in cubes 1 cm per side (1/2 inch per side))
- 2 dL (almost 1 cup) flour
- 2.5 L (2/3 gallon) beef bouillon
- 4 cloves garlic, mashed
- 12 peppercorns
- salt
- 6 bay laurel leafs
- thyme & oregano
- 0.5 L (2 cups) cream

In a large pot, a little oil was heated. The onion was sautéed for a couple of minutes before adding the tuber cubes. After another 5 minutes, the flour was added and stirred in to coat the cubes with the flour. The beef bouillon was added together with the herbs, salt, and peppercorns. The soup was brought to a boil, then the heat was reduced. The soup was covered and allowed to simmer for an hour with occasional stirring, before adding the cream.

Served warm with a little sour cream on top.

Creamy Sunchoke Soup

It was only recently that I found sunchokes at a farmers' market here in Geneva - fortunately, I was able to recall the French word 'topinambour' [1] so I could ask for 1 kg of them. I used most of them to prepare this soup.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 3 small onions, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- 1 green chilli, seeds removed, finely diced
- 850 g (30 oz) sunchokes
- 1.4 L (3 pints) water
- salt and pepper
- juice of 1 lemon
- parsley, chopped

Of the sunchokes, 700 g (25 oz) were cut in cubes approximately 1 cm (1/2 inch) on each side, while the rest were cut in cubes approximately 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) on each side.

In a large pot, the onion and chilli were sautéed till onion was translucent, then added the large chunks of sunchokes and garlic. After 10 minutes the water was added, brought to a boil, before the pot was covered and the heat was reduced. After simmering for 30 minutes, the pot was removed from the heat and the soup was blended to a smooth texture. Seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

While the soup was simmering, the smaller sunchoke cubes were roasted in a pan with a little oil.

The soup was served with sunchoke cubes and parsley on top.

[1] Given my generally poor knowledge of French vocabulary, I do seem to know a disproportionate amount of food terms..

Chickpea Soup 1

Mrs. Throat-erator found this recipe and decided to make it for me because she knows how much I enjoy cumin. And because wintertime is soup-time.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 1 leek
- 400 g (1 14 oz can) chickpeas
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cane sugar
- salt & pepper
- 1.5 L (6 cups) vegetable broth
- 1 1/4 dL (1/2 cup) whipping cream
- 1 large onion
- 1 (small) bunch parsley

The leek was rinsed and cut in rings, which were sautéed in oil in a large pot until they started to soften. The drained and rinsed chickpeas were added together with cumin, sugar, and 1 tsp salt. Then the vegetable broth and the cream was added, the soup was brought to a boil, and then let simmer for 40 minutes on low heat.

The onion was cut in boats which were fried in oil in a pan until brown and soft. Then the coarsely chopped parsley was mixed in, and the mix was seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

The soup was blended briefly - i.e. not all the chickpeas were pureed, some escaped whole, which was clearly not the intention of the recipe we found, but I quite liked it this way: Some chickpeas pureed to give texture to the soup, some left (more or less) whole in the soup.

The soup was served immediately with some of the onion/parsley mix on top.

Onion Soup

Some time ago we started talking about wanting to try making onion soup, but nothing happened for a while, then we found this recipe, and for a while still nothing happened. We have to admit we weren't familiar with the consommé the recipe calls for, but we ended up assuming that the idea was to have something a little more intensely beefy than ordinary beef broth. Looking at the available options at the local market we decided to try adding Better Than Bouillon to beef it up..

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 kg (2 lb) yellow onion
- 4 cans (14 oz each) beef broth
- 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon beef base
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
- salt & pepper
- bread (to serve)

The onions were cut in boats and sautéed in melted butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot till they were soft and golden. Then the beef broth together with the Better Than Bouillon base was added and the pot was allowed to simmer for 10 minutes. Finally the grated cheese was stirred in and the soup was seasoned with salt and pepper.
Was served immediately with a slice of toasted multi-grain bread.

The Better Than Bouillon mixed in with the broth certainly worked nicely for the effect we were going for.

Corn Chowder

A chowder is a thick soup, and the following is a modification of the first chowder I ever encountered (Ironically, I spent a month in Boston prior to this and didn't have clam chowder even once). Once this dish was introduced at the cooking club at my dorm it occurred repeatedly.

Ingredients:
- oil
- caraway seeds & ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion
- 1.3-1.4 kg (3 lb) potatoes
- 2 dL (1 cup) flour
- 1 L (1 quart) vegetable broth
- 1 L (1 quart) milk
- 650 g (23 oz) frozen corn
- bunch parsley [1]
- 150 g (5-6 oz) sharp cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper
- sour cream (to serve)

In a big pot heat up a little oil, then add generous amounts of caraway seeds and ground cumin, followed quickly by crushed garlic and chopped onion. Stir for a minute before adding the potatoes as cubes 1 cm (1/2 inch) to the side. Stir till the onions are translucent, then add the flour and stir it around so the potatoes get even coated with flour. With stirring pour in the vegetable broth and milk, and continue to stir constantly while bringing it to a boil. Now cover, reduce to low heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Then add in the frozen corn and the chopped parsley, and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in grated cheddar cheese and stir till the cheese is melted. Season with salt & pepper. Serve with a little sour cream on top.

[1] could just as well be chives or cilantro