Vegetarian Sate Noodle Soup

Eating more vegetables these days is not "a la mode", but it is the scientific way to have a long healthy life. I share this recipe with my readers because I believe this soup is the best of vegetarian soups. The vegetable broth is loaded with healthy root vegetables; also the spicy use to finish the soup is a cross between Pho and Bun Bo Hue. I like to prepare this soup when I feel undecided which soup that I can have for my dinner, and this is the one. Move over, the sate sauce added as a final touch is unbelievable way to describe how wonderful it is of having this soup for dinner on a cold day or even under the weather. For a shortcut to have this soup, my suggestion is always have broth ready and sate sauce. I like to make my own broth and sate sauce. However, there are many good vegetarian broths and sate sauces are available for busy cooks.

Ingredients:

12 cups of vegetable broth with lemongrass*

1 piece ginger

3 shallots

10 garlic cloves

3 star anise

1/2 tsp coriander seeds

1 small piece of cinnamon stick

Other ingredients:

1/2  Japanese pumpkin peel and cut into chunk

1 gourd, peeled and cut into big bites

9 oz king oyster mushrooms, sliced

14.5 oz tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes and fried

1/4 cup sate sauce*

Garnish with chopped green onions, basil and cilantro

Serve with rice noodles

Seasoning with salt, sugar, soy sauce and black pepper

Directions:

Cook the rice noodles according to the label on the package and set aside.

Place ginger and shallot on a baking dish and roast for 15 minutes. Peel the shallots and discard the skin.

In a frying pan, roast the cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and coriander seeds for few minutes or until fragrant (be careful not to burn them).

 Place in a container and include the roast ginger and shallots

For easy removal later, the container to use for these spices are selling at Asian supermarkets.

Bring vegetables to boil. My broth to use for this soup is the one I made with lemongrass, Drop a handful of lemongrass to the broth if you do not have the broth made with lemongrass.

 Add spice package and simmer for 10 minutes then add  gourd, and pumpkin.

 Simmer for 25 minutes and add tofu and king oyster mushrooms. Remove spice package and lemongrass at this point. Season with salt, sugar, and soy sauce to your liking. Add sate sauce just before serving.

Place cooked noodles on the bottom of a serving bowl; top with tofu, pumpkin, gourd, and mushrooms. Ladle the broth over and top with basil, cilantro, and green onions. Serve extra sate sauce on the side with lemon wedges.

*In a saute pan add 1/3 cup of oil and fried the tofu until golden brown

* follow the instructions for homemade sate posted in my blog on July, 18,2015.
* Follow the instructions for homemade vegetable stock posted in my blog on January 02/2012