Miso ramen soup with shiitake and seaweed Serves 4

Prep 15 mins + soaking

Cook 5 mins

2 tbsp arame seaweed

100g soba ramen noodles

750ml vegetable stock

2 tbsp tamari

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 carrot, peeled, halved and cut in thin

half-moons

150g small broccoli florets

100g shiitake mushrooms

2 tbsp miso

3 spring onions, sliced

1 Soak the arame seaweed in hot water for

15 minutes.

2 Boil the soba ramen noodles in plenty

of water for 4 minutes, drain and divide

between 4 bowls.

3 Bring the stock to the boil and add the

seaweed plus its soaking water, the tamari,

ginger juice and rice vinegar. Then add the

sliced carrots, broccoli florets, and shiitake

mushrooms, and simmer gently for a couple

of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in

the miso and sliced spring onions.

4 Pour the miso soup over the ramen

noodles and eat at once.

COOK’S TIP Miso soup can be delicious with

any seasonal vegetable.

n PER SERVING 146 cals, fat 3g, sat fat 1g,

carbs 22g, sugars 3g, protein 8g, salt 3.2g,

fibre 4g

Rachel Demuth

www.vegetarianliving.co.uk | 5756 |

Chef’stableIN THE KITCHEN WITH

Rachel was chef-proprietor of the

award-winning Demuths vegetarian

restaurant in Bath for 25 years, and is

now dedicated to running the Demuths

Vegetarian Cookery School. She is the

author of four vegetarian cookbooks,

including The Green Seasons Cookbook.

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FROM THE PANTRY

MISOMiso is made with soya beans fermented with kojii. Kojii is cooked rice, barley or soya beans that have been inoculated with a fermentation culture – Aspergilius. Miso is very nutritious, rich in protein, minerals, B vitamins and calcium, but always add it at the end of cooking to avoid damaging the healthy enzymes. Hacho miso is made from soya beans, genmai miso from soya beans and brown rice, mugi miso from soya beans and barley, and natto miso is made from soya beans, barley, ginger and seaweed. The darker the miso the stronger the flavour, and it’s already salty so there’s no need to add more. You can use miso to make soups, dressings, marinades and sauces.

ESSENTIAL TIPS…Resident chef Rachel Demuth shares seasonal cooking ideas, tips, recipes and more…

Homemade sushiHow do I make vegetarian sushi at home?

It’s really easy to make your own sushi

at home. Your essential kit is a sushi mat

for rolling, sushi rice and sheets of ready-

toasted nori seaweed.

My favourite filling is a simple combination

of raw carrot, cucumber and mouli. Mouli

is a Japanese radish, which is white and

crunchy. It can be a metre long and tastes

less peppery than red radish. Avocado

is popular, although it’s not a traditional

Japanese filling, but you can experiment

with any fillings you like.

For a hot peppery flavour, wasabi can

be spread delicately inside the roll or

mixed with shoyu for dipping (I like the

fresh wasabi available from The Wasabi

Company: www.thewasabicompany.co.uk).

Cook the rice carefully and then spread it

out in a big dish to cool – in Japan the rice

is fanned to cool it. Lay the nori sheet on

the sushi mat and cover with a thin layer of

rice and a line of vegetables, plus a touch of

wasabi if using. Roll up like a Swiss roll using

the sushi mat to roll, pressing as you go.

Slice with a really sharp knife and eat quickly

as the rolls are best eaten fresh and sushi

rice doesn’t like being refrigerated.

SEAWEEDSeaweeds grow around the coasts of

the British Isles and are harvested from

unpolluted shorelines. Edible seaweeds,

which may be green (shallow water),

brown, or red (deep water), are collected

and then dried.

You can buy dried seaweed from

wholefood and Japanese stores. Look out

for the excellent Clearspring brand.

Seaweed is nutritious, a good source of

iron, calcium, iodine, sodium, potassium,

phosphorus and B vitamins.

To cook with seaweed, soak beforehand

and add to soups and salads or dry-roast

and sprinkle over salads and rice. There are

many different varieties:

l Arame is a finely shredded seaweed and

has a mild flavour for miso soups.

l Laver from West Wales is made into

laver bread.

l Dulse is purple and native to Ireland; it is

delicious dry-roasted.

l Konbu (kelp) is usually used for boiling

to make stock.

l Nori comes dried in sheets and is used

for making sushi, but make sure you buy

ready-toasted if you’re making vegetarian

sushi rolls.

l Hiziki (also spelt hijiki) is a sweet,

shredded seaweed and tastes good

in salads.

l Carrageen is used as a natural thickener.

l Agar-agar is a vegetarian setting agent

derived from seaweed and used as an

alternative to gelatin. Japanese agar-agar

is called kanten. It’s made from a seaweed

called Gelidiaceae which is a small family of

red algae (agar-agar is made from different

seaweeds). Kanten has a slightly crunchy

texture but sets stronger than agar-agar.

Buckwheat noodles should be vegan, but it is advisable always to check packaging for egg

and milk ingredients, especially if you decide to use a different type of noodle or straight-to-wok.

The new year is traditionally the time to cut

back after the festive excesses. Although we

all like to have a blowout every once in a while,

the Christmas overindulgence can be really

hard on our bodies and any excess calories

will be stored as body fat. High intakes of

nutrients such as sugar, saturated fat, salt and

alcohol can lead to feeling tired and sluggish

after the festivities are over.

Some quick ways to perk up your system

include fresh smoothies, colourful salads and

vegetable soups. Monica Shaw, our detox and

healthy-eating expert at the cookery school,

recommends drinking smoothies as part of

your January healthy-eating regime. They’re

crammed with good things such as vitamins,

minerals, fibre, folic acid and other protective

plant chemicals – often the colour of the fruit

and vegetable itself!

To maximise your smoothie’s nutrient

potential, try to balance 60 per cent fruit

with 40 per cent vegetables – with this ratio

the sweetness of the fruit should ensure you

won’t taste the spinach!

For fresh salads, make the most of winter

vegetables but try them raw. Julienned

beetroot, squash and sweet potato, grated

carrot with apple, grated celeriac with lemon

(celeriac when peeled discolours quickly so

toss in lemon juice) are all delicious. Mix the

salads with an oil-free dressing made with

lemon, orange or apple juice. Kale, finely

chopped and marinated in lemon juice with

goji berries, works well with chicory and

lots of fresh green parsley. Top with

pomegranate pearls and lightly toasted

pumpkin and sunflower seeds. You could also

add shredded seaweed like arame and hiziki:

soak the dried seaweed in warm water for

15 minutes, then drain and toss with tamari

and sesame seeds.

Light Japanese soups are ideal for

contributing to your five-a-day. Add noodles

and your choice of vegetables – try julienned

carrots or pumpkin and add broccoli or dark

leafy vegetables. Flavour with nourishing

miso and seaweed. On our Japanese cookery

course Sachiko teaches shojin ryori, which

means ‘to progress the spirit’. Shojin cooking

is a special way of preparing, cooking and

eating for Zen Buddhist monks, based on

the philosophy of balance, harmony and

simplicity. It’s a pure way of cooking, dairy-

free with no pungent flavours from onions or

garlic and using only grains, vegetables, soya

products and sea vegetables. Soup is eaten

every day and often a meal is defined by this

saying: Ichi ju san sai – ‘one soup and a bowl

of rice with three green dishes’. So miso soup

is ideal for January healthy eating.

NEW YEAR DETOX

Find out more at www.vegetariancookeryschool.com.For weekly seasonal recipes, follow Rachel’s blog at www.racheldemuth.co.uk/blog.

Ask Rachel…YOUR CULINARY DILEMMAS AND KITCHEN QUANDARIES ANSWERED

Sachiko’s next Japanese course at the Vegetarian Cookery School is on 26 January 2014. For details, visit www.vegetariancookeryschool.com/about/descriptions/japanese_master_class.

To learn more about making smoothies, check out Monica Shaw’s book at http://smoothies.smarterfitter.com and blog smarterfitter.com. In the spring, Monica will be teaching a detox course at the Vegetarian Cookery School.