Vegetable Tofu Ramen

I was given a combined rice, slow cooker and steamer for Christmas by my boyfriends parents and I have to say it is so handy when you have a baby to look after and less time to cook. So I've decided to revisit some of my soup/casserole/risotto recipes; expect to see them appearing on the blog soon! I cooked this in the slow cooker on the steamer function but I've included instructions for normal cooking since this is a tried and tested recipe which I've cooked a number of times on the hob.

This recipe calls for some unusual ingredients that you probably won't have in your store cupboard (miso paste, mirin, sesame oil) but these are all ingredients you can get from any large supermarket or an Asian supermarket, if you have access to one. If you don't want to or can't buy mirin then you can substitute for sugar, and you can also omit the sesame oil, but the miso paste is absolutely essential for the flavour. You'll end up with quite a bit of miso paste leftover but it is very savoury in taste (read: delicious) and is a great store cupboard ingredient to have as it can be added to any style of soup, stew or casserole to give a lovely depth in flavour.

The vegetables can be substituted for any you like; beansprouts go quite well in ramen but I'm not a fan of them so I don't bother adding them. I peel the carrots and courgette to quicken the cooking time but if you'd rather slice them then you'll need to add them in earlier to allow for the greater cooking time. I used udon noodles here as I love their thickness but you can use any noodles you want.

Serves 4

Ingredients

200g Firm Tofu, cubed (if you want you can press and dry fry the tofu but I didn't bother)
2 litres vegetable stock
2 carrots, sliced thinly using a peeler/grater
1 large courgette, sliced thinly using a peeler/grater
400g mushrooms, sliced in half
3 leeks, sliced in rounds
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (or substitute for 2 tsp of brown sugar)
3 tbsp light miso paste (can also use dark miso paste if needed)
1 tbsp sesame oil (can substitute for regular vegetable oil if needed)
4 x 150g 'straight to wok' (pre-cooked) noodles OR 300g dried noodles,  cooked

Instructions

1. Fry garlic and leeks in the sesame oil until beginning to soften. If you need more oil, add regular vegetable oil as sesame oil can be quite overpowering in flavour.

2. Add the mushrooms and fry for around 7 minutes until soft.

3. Add the stock and soy sauce and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add the soy sauce, mirin, and miso paste. Stir through.

4. Add the tofu and cover the pan; cook for around 10-15 minutes, making sure not to stir too thoroughly so as to avoid breaking the tofu.

5. Add the carrots, courgette, and noodles and stir in carefully. Cook for a further 5 minutes on a medium-low heat before serving.