Udon Stir Fry

Serves: 8 (We're a big family these days. Halve the recipe for more standard portions! Or don't and have real great leftovers.)

Sauce Ingredients*

• 5 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 6 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

• 3 tbsp mirin

• 2 tbsp teaspoons brown sugar

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

  *this recipe makes a little bit extra sauce, use it all for super saucy noodles or reserve some so people can add more if they’d like at the table

Stir Fry Ingredients

• 3 packets udon noodles

• ½ lb white or brown mushrooms (one of those small cartons), thickly sliced

• 1/3 head green cabbage, thinly sliced

• 6 bok choy, chopped into thirds, crosswise

• 1 small white onion, sliced

• 6 scallions, chopped into pretty diagonal slices, for serving

• 1 lb. baked tofu, sliced into 1/4" slices (alternatively, you can buy uncooked extra firm tofu, slice it, and bake it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

What to Do

1. Prepare udon noodles according to package directions. In my experience, the less time in the water, the better. So I usually dunk in boiling water for no more than a minute, rinse under the tap, and add a bit of vegetable oil to prevent them from sticking.

2. Let a large nonstick skillet get hot over medium high heat (the bigger the better! If you have a wok, you are golden). Once hot, add mushrooms, bokchoy, and cabbage and cook until slightly softened. (No oil just yet! This allows the vegetables to char up a bit without releasing a bunch of water. Cooked veggies without the mush!) Place vegetables into a heat proof bowl and set aside.

3. In the same skillet, add vegetable oil. Once hot, add onion and tofu. Cook until onions juuuust begin to soften. About 8-10 minutes.

4. Add noodles and vegetables back to the skillet. Mix to combine.

5. Once well-combined, add sauce in large spoonfuls at a time, until desired sauciness. Taste as you go!

6. Toss, toss, toss.

7. Turn off heat and mix in scallions, reserving a five finger pinch for garnish. Plate up, garnish with reserve scallion. Eat!
   
   

UMAMI BROTH SOUP WITH CRISPY RICE & CARROT GINGER DRESSING

Early mornings are chilly. There are gourds at my bodega. I've eaten a three pound bag of candy corn. IT'S SOUP SEASON, PLAYBOYS. And I love it. As a vegetarian, making a soup that's savory and rich enough to satisfy both me and my animal-eating fiancé was trickier than I thought. I can't chug down gallons of trendy bone broth like every other #foodie in New York can, so I turned to a vegan alternative that's equally rich and satisfying. 

Warning: this is not a quick, throw-it-together in your undies while simultaneously online shopping and watching Jeopardy type of meal. Sorry, but as they say, good things take time (I usually don't advocate this because I have no patience, but this time, those people are right). 

Bon Appétit's recipe for Umami Broth was easy to make and packed a punch. It just took a little time to simmer to completion. I made it a few days before I made this full meal. Night-of, I put some of it into a pot, let it come to a boil, and added bok choy and thinly sliced carrots and cooked until carrots were fork tender. Finished it with some chopped scallions, chili flakes, and sliced jalapeno (because I couldn't find Thai chilis and you have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to grocery store visits for one meal).

Also made this carrot ginger dressing, which made a shit ton. I ate with pretty much everything the days following. It's a bit richer and tastes like a better version of the dressing sushi takeout gives you with your salad... "salad"....three strips of iceberg lettuce and a carrot shred. This soup night, we ate it with a side of boiled broccoli. 

CRISPY RICE. YOU TAKE OLD RICE. PUT IT IN A POT WITH A LIL' MILK, OLIVE OIL, AND BUTTER, AND LET IT CRISP UNTIL A HEAVENLY GOLD CRUST FORMS. THAT'S ALL I NEED TO SAY ABOUT THAT.

V E G A N  U M A M I  B R O T H  S O U P

Adapted from Bon Appétit

Yields: approximately 2 quarts

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons white miso
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 4 6x4-inch pieces kombu
• 2 medium onions, unpeeled, halved through root, very thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots, unpeeled, very thinly sliced, divided
• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
• 6 sprigs parsley
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (I subbed a shit ton of cracked black pepper because I didn’t have any. It seemed fine.)
• 2 heads baby bok choy, base root removed to separate leaves
• 1 jalapeño or Thai or fresno chili (jalapeño is inauthentic but it’s all I had okay?)
• 1 scallion, light green and white parts thinly sliced for garnishing

RECIPE PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 300º.
2. Whisk miso, oil, and 2 Tbsp. water in a small bowl.
3. Crush mushrooms and kombu with your hands over a rimmed baking sheet. Add onions, carrot, celery, garlic, and parsley and toss to combine.
4. Drizzle miso mixture over vegetable mixture and toss to coat. Bake, tossing halfway through, until vegetables are slightly shriveled and mixture is fragrant, 60–75 minutes.
5. Transfer vegetable mixture to a large pot. Add peppercorns a shit ton of cracked black pepper and 4 quarts cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until broth is reduced by half, 60–75 more like 1-1.5 hours (maybe my burner is trash?).
6. Let broth cool, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids.
7. In an appropriately sized pot, divvy out how much broth you’d like to eat right then; freeze the rest
8. Bring pot to a boil; add carrot slices. Reduce to a simmer, leave for 15 minutes.
9. Add bok choy; let simmer for 5 minutes
10. Serve with drizzle of sesame oil, chili pepper slices, and cilantro

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C A R R O T  G I N G E R  D R E S S I N G

Adapted from Saveur

Yields: approximately 2 cups

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1⁄4 cup rice vinegar
• 1⁄8 cup soy sauce
• ½ tbsp. Sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1⁄4 medium yellow onion (about 6 oz.), roughly chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

RECIPE PREPARATION

1. Combine oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, carrots, and onion in a food processor, and process until smooth
2. Season with salt and pepper. Unused dressing will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.