Low Sodium Spicy Miso Noodle Bowl

 

I have been taxed with the task of making our food more heart healthy and although I have always assumed that we already eat very well, thank you very much, I have been shocked by how much sodium we consume. SHOCKED, I say.

One of our favourite things to eat is ramen and when I did some digging, I realized that each bowl of delicious spicy miso ramen had over 3000mg of sodium and that isn't even accounting for some of the add ins.

This will not do. I have spent weeks working on my favourite recipe and I have managed to get it down to under 700mg of sodium per bowl, which is still a bit high but nothing close to what we were used to. There is also some disagreement about how we process the sodium in miso and although it is significant, a traditional Japanese diet which is high is miso and soy sauce does not result in any sort of widespread heart disease and, in fact, may actually be considered part of a heart healthy diet. I am trying to cut the difference and not worry too much about the extra sodium while I actively try to use less, overall.

My usual recipe comes from Lady and Pups, probably my very favourite food blogger and even though it is so delicious it will make your toes curl, it is also a fat/sodium bomb and can't happen in our house anymore. After weeks of tinkering, the only thing I didn't have to change was the addition of plain, unsweetened soy milk to the soup broth to give it a creamy, porky feeling and makes up for the lack of greasy, delicious ground pork. 

I use a Sichuan hot pepper paste but if you can't find it, you can subsitute Gochujang (lower in sodium at about 150mg/tbls). It will change the flavour profile but it will still be delicious and if you haven't tried with the Sichuan hot pepper paste, you will never know the difference, right?

Also, a word about the noodles - we have been using NuPasta that has 35 calories, almost no fat, no sodium - the fettucine style noodles mimic rice noodles but are like eating air. 

Finally, this recipe is for a basic noodle bowl and the additions are up to you. Cooked spinach, leftover roasted veggies, leftover sliced chicken or steak or pork is great - once you have the broth, you can add whatever you like. This makes enough miso paste to make at least 12 servings of soup, depending on the serving sizes but it stays good in the fridge for months. Once you have the miso paste made, which is really the only labour intensive part of this, you can whip up a hearty bowl of soup using whatever protien/veggies you have on hand.

Low Sodium Spicy Miso Noodle Bowl

serves 4

SPICY MISO PASTE

3 tbls Sichuan paste (Broad Bean Paste) - 1080 mg sodium/tbls or 3240 in total batch

1/2 cup miso.            - 890mg sodium/tbls or 7120 in total batch

1/2 small onion, chopped

1.5 tbls mirin

1 tbls minced garlic

1 tbls minced ginger

1 tbls veg oil

1 tbls sesame oil

1 tsp dashi powder 478 sodium

1 tsp tahini 1 tbls  approx 5mg sodium

*Final Spicy Miso Paste has approx 677 mg sodium per tbls

SOUP

1 tbls sesame oil

1/4 tsp black pepper

3 or 4 dried shiitake mushrooms

3 cups no sodium chicken broth

1 cup unsweetened unflavoured soy milk

4 tbls spicy miso paste

4 servings noodles - Nupasta if you really want no sodium at all or next healthiest choice are buckwheat soba

4 tbls sliced scallions

sesame seeds

*1 cooked chicken breast, a handful of poached shrimp, sliced on the diagonal, tofu, sliced pork, jammy eggs (eggs simmered for 6 1/2 minutes, cooled, peeled and halved) or any other protein of your choice

** you can also throw in whatever vegetable you like - matchstick carrot, leftover cooked veg, a handful of sliced spinach or other green

Garlic Togarashi Oil

2 small shallots, minced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp sesame seed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1.5 tbls Togarashi (Farm Boy brand has 10mg sodium/tbls)

Combine the shallots, garlic, sesame seeds, and veg oil in a small pot over low heat. Cook and stir until the garlic is crispy and light brown, about 5 or 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the togarashi and let sit for at least an hour before using it.

To make Spicy Miso Paste

Put all the Spicy Miso Paste in gradients in a blender or mini food processor and blend until smooth. Scrape into a pot and set over medium heat. Bring to a low simmer and cook and stir for 5 minutes. Let it cool completely and store in airtight container in the fridge.

To make the broth and final soup

Rinse the shiitakes, cover with boiling water and let steep while you get the other things together, then remove them and slice them, setting aside.

Heat 1 tbls of sesame oil in soup pot and add 4 tbls of spicy miso paste and cook for a minute until fragrant. Add the mushrooms, broth and soy milk and bring to a simmer.

compose your ingredients on top of the noodles before you pourin the hot soup

Prepare your chosen noodles according to directions. If using Nupasta noodles, drain, give a really good rinse in a strainer under hot running water, shake well to get rid of excess water and add to the soup bowls. Lay your additions on top of the noodles, so add any protien you are using, the vegetables you are using to the bowl. Ladle 1/4 of the soup into each bowl, over the noodles. For each serving add 2 tbls of scallion and a tsp or two of spicy togarashi oil and sesame seeds.

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