White Miso Noodle Broth with Beancurd

This closeup shows extra black pepper I added when I served it.

The soup will look darker than this if you use regular miso such as mugi or hatcho.

Oh dear... the cough I have been fending off all week with extra vitamin C, sage tea and even raw garlic (ugh!) seems to have become a chest infection, and I am not feeling my usual self at all. I wanted to cook something that was quick and easy, as I don't want to be on my feet for long, yet I needed to make sure both the kids and Thakuraji (our deities) were catered for. Luckily I realised we had all the ingredients for something I'd been meaning to cook for a while, and it happens to be just the thing for colds and coughs, being warming, nutritious and easily digested.

 Ayurvedic medicine, (the ancient Indian health system), recommends avoiding cold food and drink and ingesting heating foods such as ginger when suffering from a cold- having a cold means that the body has become too kapha (cold and damp). The black pepper and ginger in this broth should be just the thing, then. The beancurd is full of protein -as is the miso- and the noodles give that extra bit of energy. 

All the vitamins from the veggies give you a lift too. I used broccoli and red pepper (capsicum) for their immune-boosting antioxidants...result: the ideal healing comfort food! With this recipe, I made enough for at least 5 bowls, depending, of course, on the size of your bowl.

150g finely-chopped veggies (I used red pepper and broccoli, but sweet potato and green beans would be equally good)

ricebran oil/ light olive oil for sauteing

1 1/2  l water

3 tabs white miso

100g (dry weight) beancurd sticks, broken into small pieces

100g (dry weight) fine noodles of your choice (wheat, rice, buckwheat etc.)

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp coarse-ground black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp compound hing

• Saute the veggies in the oil until they are just starting to soften.
• Add the water, beancurd and seasoning, and bring to the boil.
• After a couple of minutes, once the beancurd has mostly softened and the veggies are cooked through, throw on the noodles. Simmer for a couple of minutes more until the noodles are soft.
• Turn off the heat, wait for the soup to go off the boil, then stir in the miso. (The reason for this being that if it's "live" and not pasteurised, you won't kill off the enzymes.)
• Serve piping hot, and add more ginger and black pepper if you need to.

Well, it did hit the spot and I don't feel quite so achey any more, so I'm off for a hot bath and an early night... :)

What foods do you reach for when you're feeling under the weather?