DETOX SOUP RECIPE

A favourite itsu lunchtime soup, this is full of delicious vegetables and filling noodles. You’ll get two antioxidant packed vegetable portions, and a good amount of satisfying protein from each bowl. It’s hard to find a healthier way to fill up!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
1 quantity Dynamite Broth (see below)
1 red pepper, cored and deseeded
100g or a handful of green beans, topped
100g or a handful of carrots
100g or a handful of mangetout
100g or a handful of shiitake mushrooms
100g or a handful of spinach
100g or a handful of bean sprouts
200g firm tofu, cut into cubes
3 tbsp wakame, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, then drained
40g thin glass noodles, soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drained

METHOD
1/ Bring the broth to a simmer. Meanwhile, cut all the vegetables, apart from the spinach and bean sprouts, into bite-sized pieces.

2/ Add all the chopped vegetables and boil for 2½ minutes, then add the spinach and bean sprouts for 30 seconds.

3/ Put the tofu, wakame and noodles in the bottom of each bowl and ladle over the vegetables and hot broth.

Nutritional tip: Wakame is a type of seaweed, very rich in iodine, which is important for a healthy thyroid gland; the tofu in this soup also adds lean protein, good for filling you up without piling on the pounds.
Top tip: If you like, you can use a handful of each vegetable instead of weighing it.

• 200 calories
• 1.7g saturated fat

DYNAMITE BROTH

We never use dashi that contains monosodium glutamate (MSG) when we make this soup at itsu. We think this flavour-enhancing chemical is quite unnecessary, so if you buy dashi rather than make it, do look out for one that’s MSG-free. We use dashi as the basis of potsu (sauce) recipes, as well as in our Detox Soup (see page 24). The broth will keep for up to a week in the fridge, and also freezes well, so you can always have some on hand to make a quick soup.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
1.6 litres instant dashi, Homemade Dashi Stock or water
5 tbsp white miso paste
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tbsp mirin
20g or 4cm fresh root ginger, grated
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 garlic clove, grated or crushed
4 lime leaves, chopped
1 hot red Thai chilli, finely chopped

METHOD
1/ Bring the stock to a simmer. Put the miso in a cup or small bowl and mix in a tablespoon of the hot stock to soften it slightly and make a smooth liquid paste. Stir the paste into the stock until dissolved.

2/ Put all the remaining ingredients into a blender and blitz to combine. Pour into the hot stock and simmer for about 5 minutes to allow the flavours to develop. (If you don’t have a blender, just chop the vegetables into smaller pieces at the beginning and omit this step)

3/ Use immediately or cool and store in the fridge for up to a week.

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