I’ve been very excited to try an Asian brothy soup like the Ginger Beef and Ramen Noodle Soup that I’m trying out here. There are some days that I just want a flavor-rich light meal and this one seemed right in line.
This inspiration recipe is from “The New Essentials Cookbook” from America’s Test Kitchen. The subscription link for this recipe is here. Often America’s Test Kitchen will repeat recipes but I don’t believe I’ve seen this one elsewhere yet. I’d highly recommend trying to check this book out from the library for the recipe.
I haven’t worked very far into the book yet but I’m discarding far more recipes than I’m willing to try (of course food allergies are the biggest factor for me). I have flagged about five recipes that I’d like to try so far.
As usual, I did modify this recipe so I’ll run down what I did a bit more as you can’t see the original recipe but I will not be copying their recipe here.
What drew me to this recipe:
As I mentioned before, I’ve been looking for a soup that is very brothy but also wanted one that I can throw most of my frozen veggies into. This one felt like it would fit the bill. Now I also used another recipe to sort of guide my ingredient choices in parallel. This one is from The Vegan Atlas blog and you can find it here.
Primary Changes:
Fundamentally, I have to cut soy out due to intolerance. This makes Asian-influenced dishes difficult but not impossible. Especially because there are ingredients high in anti-inflammatory properties. If these issues do not apply to you, you will likely be able to achieve richer flavor faster by using soy sauce and I’d recommend following The Vegan Atlas recipe or America’s Test Kitchen versions closer.
Additionally, I couldn’t find flavorless Ramen (I’ve never bought Ramen before) so I bought rice noodles. Also, it was an Instacart substitute. The Vegan recipe used Tofu for the protein and as I couldn’t do that, I switched over to America’s Test Kitchen’s version and used beef. I had a refrozen steak thing.
The broth is the other major change. America’s Test Kitchen used chicken stock as the base, The Vegan Atlas built up a vegetable broth from vegetable bouillon cubes. I purchased a mushroom broth that I used for this recipe. I’m not a fan of mushrooms for their texture but it seemed worth testing whether I liked the flavor of mushroom so this is how I went for this trial.
Soy Sauce Substitute:
I’ve been looking and testing for a soy-free soy sauce substitute and many replacements still used something that had soy as an ingredient so I made one from raw ingredients this time. It’s necessary to emphasize that this is not a flavor swap. I wouldn’t try to convince you to give up soy sauce if you don’t need to, but if you want to create a tang without soy give this a try.
The foundation of the tang was ground Turmeric root. This is an orange-colored spice that can be found in-store, but it’s also a root just like ginger. I can’t seem to find the root these days, so I’ve opted for the ground version. Like ginger, Turmeric is also anti-inflammatory.
Ingredients for sauce:
- Turmeric (for spice/tang)
- Olive oil (for moisture – can use any oil)
- Molasses (sweetness with a tang)
- Brown sugar (sweetness)
- Vinegar (tang)
I was aiming for about a total of 1.5 Tbsp and sadly this is not something that you can really test taste as you’re aiming for a flavor you’d never want to eat by itself. Also true for soy sauce. I’m sure I’ll keep adjusting this mix as well. I would have used apple cider vinegar but I didn’t have any.
The highest ratios I used were olive oil and molasses. Then nearly equal parts brown sugar and Turmeric (not much ~ 1 tsp). Turmeric is a strong spice. Then I just splashed in the smallest amount of vinegar I could manage from my gallon container.
Prep:
- Put rice noodles in a bowl of water (per directions about 1 hr before use)
- Make fake soy sauce
- Thinly slice green onions about 4-5
- Cut off a branch (3″) of ginger root after shaving (potato peeler), slice thinly 3 pieces
- Peel lime zest 3-5 strips (can add to ginger)
- Cut and juice lime (1/2 the lime)
- Trim and cut about 1/4-1/3 cup cilantro
Cooking:
Cook beef and set aside.
Start with boiling and reducing to a simmer the broth with ginger and lime zest. Build up broth if necessary. I wasn’t paying attention and boiled off too much of my broth.
After the broth is built up and simmers for a while, add noodles (space out if they need to be cooked) and green onions, soy sauce, and lime juice. The rice noodles expanded which I hadn’t planned for so I had far too many for my broth. I also grabbed some frozen butternut squash noodles and added them to the mix.
Serve noodles with beef over top. Add cilantro.
My Version Results:
The majority of my flavor came from the mushroom broth which is a bit flat but a rich flavor in itself. The green onions were fantastic. I had almost no broth left, which was disappointing. The beef was fantastic and simple. The beef with the noodles was great in each spoonful.
The butternut squash noodles really were too old but they did not deter from the flavor. There was a fair amount of starch left in the broth which could mean the rice noodles needed rinsed or the butternut squash noodles shouldn’t have been (ice was all over them) or released a ton of starch themselves.
I LOVED it…the first time!
Leftovers are a no-go. The green onions were mushy and the broth flavor was starchy. The mushroom flavor was weird when starchy. Even my beef seemed to have that off-flavor it gets when it sits in the refrigerator too long (might be my handling mistakes-I did thaw and refreeze it once before).
What I’d Do Differently:
I would like to try the same with the chicken broth and some other veggies such as snap peas. I’d also like to double the soy sauce replacement. Ramen noodles should definitely be tried as well, with fewer of them proportionally than I did.
Most importantly, I won’t make as much. It’s inconvenient to make small servings of stews or soups but this one did not do well as leftovers. The green onions are a deal-breaker and just not feasible to pick out for storing, so I’ll be freezing the leftover broth instead.
Review:
I’ve learned that I love ginger root stewing in broth. That’s a fantastic seasoning. I also think these flavors will do well with the chicken cilantro marinade I tried before or the lemon pepper one.
I’m still searching for the perfect vegetarian meal. I don’t see this one working for me as I can’t use tofu as my protein.
Comment below if you want to try this dish or if you have a recommendation for a vegetarian meal to try.