Somen Noodles With Poached Egg, Bok Choy and Mushrooms

Perfect soup for cold nights. I used miso-ginger broth from Trader Joe's instead of water which gave it a deeper flavor. I also used soft boiled eggs instead of the swirled eggs suggested in the recipe -just easier for me.

A perfect soup for a zero degree night in Vermont. I suggest one addition to make it perfect. The broth is a slightly weak so I added some brown rice miso to the broth by mixing 3 teaspoons of miso with about three tablespoons of hot broth and poured into each bowl after serving. It makes it much more flavorful and authentic. Thanks for the recipe.

I'm thinking dried shitakes, hydrated, would enrich the broth. And perhaps save a bit of money as shitakes are $15 a pound in my neighborhood.

if you were to add chicken to this, when would you do it... sorry for the non chef question...

I found the broth a little bland so added some vegetable base. I also cannot get the poached egg technique to work so I found a great shortcut - a coffee mug with 1/2 cup water- break the egg into the water and microwave for 30 sec - check and can add another 12 seconds if still not enough - you want the yolk to be shaky if you gently shake the mug. I have added anything from some leftover pork and chicken to matchstick carrots but MUST have the bok choy for that crunch and toasted sesame oil!

Well, now I have to add shiitakes to my “well-stocked” larder. While I appreciate the hint, this is not always available to all of us. What can be substituted for this otherwise simple dish?

Miso would work. Alternatively, you could try Japanese dashi packets. If you can find them, the Japanese brand Kamenoya has konbu and vegetable dashi packets, which you can infuse to make the stock. Just look around the Asian/Japanese section of your supermarket for something similar.

I used vegetable broth and added the white miso as another had suggested and the broth had a great flavor, especially with the egg yolk. The timing is a bit tricky, as you need the soba cooked before you can add the broth and cook the egg! Neat trick with cooking the egg in the soba both, very delicious with the additions.

This was delicious and truly simple and fast to make. I made a few modifications to increase flavor and decrease sodium a little. I used homemade chicken broth instead of water. Instead of 3T soy sauce I used 1T low sodium soy sauce, 1 T coconut aminos and 1T white miso paste.

I used beef broth and a 4 oz. grass fed beef tenderloin sliced paper thin, added with the book Choi, and a teaspoon of fish sauce. Stirred the barely poached egg into the broth to give it a rich creaminess. Very good.

Omitting water from the ingredients list is a common recipe writing convention and it's meant to decrease clutter. Water differs from other ingredients. You don't need to check your pantry to make sure you have it before you start cooking, and you don't need to prep it advance. You might say the same thing about salt, but different recipes require different types, thus requiring clarification in the ingredients list. There's only one type of water used in cooking, and it comes from your tap.

Although I did not make it it would seem to me using vegetable or chicken broth instead of water would improve the richness of this soup

As other commenters suggested, I tried this with vegetable broth instead of water. Also added some chili oil. I made this for a friend and it was so delicious.

Wonderful. Hearty but healthy. Couldn’t find shiitake mushrooms or bok choy locally so I used oyster mushrooms, a few dried porcini and kale - and a third less soy sauce. The broth was still rich and tasty.

Feeling under the weather and made this in under 20 minutes. Used Maruchan ramen (chicken mushroom) instead of somen, skipped the egg, and topped with sesame seeds. What a soothing delight!