There are many ways to go about ensuring a lucky new year, especially when it comes to making dinner. Every culture and every family have their own traditions and beliefs, but my own favorite lucky food is very simple, easy to make, and the perfect blank canvas to dress up any which way depending on one’s mood. As encouraged by just about every Asian culture, I made sure to have noodles on both New Year’s Eve and Day, just to make sure my luck was secured. I’m not taking any chances this time around!
Mine were matcha soba noodles, to be precise, although you could probably get away with just about anything- Even plain old spaghetti. Why? It’s said that eating long noodles are supposed to symbolize a long life.
Bathed in a light miso and soy broth, I chose to adorn my bowl of green buckwheat pasta very simply, with just a few veggies and mushrooms, although tofu would have made a nice topper, too. Since it’s hard to come by decent vegan dashi or Japanese-style broth, this incredibly basic soup was nonetheless a special treat.
It’s still not too late to whip up one midnight snack of long, slurpable noodles, so get in the kitchen and cook up some good luck!
Fish-Free Dashi
Since it’s hard to come by decent vegan dashi or Japanese-style broth, this incredibly easy, simple soup stock is a special treat.
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Vegetable Stock
- 1 Heaping Tablespoon Instant Wakame Flakes
- 3 Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, Finely Chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Tamari or Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Barley Miso Paste
- 1 – 2 Scallions, Thinly Sliced
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, simply combine all of the ingredient, stir well, and bring it just to the brink of boil. Never allow miso to boil, as that destroys it’s healthful nutrients. Ladle over cooked noodles and vegetables as desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 45Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1710mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 3g
Oh wow, a recipe that actually calls for barley miso. I bought a tub of it months ago, who knows why, and I have no idea where to use it. Sounds awesome :)
It’s so cute it almost doesn’t look real! I wish I would have known about the noodles…I would have had that too. Great tradition! Happy New Year Hannah!
xo
Eco Mama
Happy New Year, Hannah!
looks like a lovely fishfree recipe! Happy new years! :)
Yummy,that is the kind of soup I like too! And the picture is so pretty! Happy New Year 2010 Hannah!
Oh waouw, just beautiful !
Happy new year Hannah !
Wow, a fish-free dashi! So cool! They actually sell the long life noodles in these giant bundles, kinda like a wheel shape. They are huge and comes in a pretty box. My dad received several 11 yrs ago when we celebrated his 50th birthday.
What a beautiful picture. I love the delicate details like the beautifully shaped veggies, and the way you arranged them in the bowl. Stunning!
And delicious, too, of course! I can’t wait to give this a try. Happy New Year!
What a wonderful photo. I like the idea of the noodle – meatless New Years Day tradition.
Matcha soba noodles sound amazing, and like the perfect way to kick off the new year!
wow that picture almost looks like a graphic design – so cool :)
I have never tried soba noodles, but really want too! sounds great!
Hannah! sorry for not dropping by lately, sorry babe! had been so busy lately!
The boyz here would like to wish you a belated New year, hope 2010 will brings everyone loads of goodies! xxx
How cute you make a bowl of noodles look!
My son and I are always up for a good bowl of noodles.
Happy New Year to you!
Matcha soba–I’m in love! The soup is absolutely stunning (your photo makes it look like a piece of abstract art). :) Hope you had a happy December31/January 1!
AAAAH that’s such a cute little bowl of noodles, I just want to dress it up in a little outfit and take it for a walk in the park… then eat it because that fishless dashi sounds delicious.
Happy 2010! BTW, something annoying about this year is that the Chinese lunar new year falls on Valentine’s day. I can’t handle two celebrations at once.
On my list of food to make soon! Soba sounds perfect right about now. Matcha is a great new twist.
Plus those mushrooms look practically like a cartoon they are so cute. Headed to Twitter to tweet this right now!
Oh it’s so beautiful! We had Vegetarian Hoppin John. It’s a tradition in South Carolina (well, not the vegetarian part, lol!),
Scrumptious photograph, and looks delicious! I will defiantly be making this.
VEGirl
vegirlblog.blogspot.com
Wow! If it’s good luck, then I’ll definitely be giving this a go! Funny to think that I’ve hardly had any soups/broths/stews etc (the classic winter warmers) this year, however I think this Dashi will be featuring in next weeks meals =)
Happy New Year!
http://www.vegankid.net
Thank you so much for your beautiful comment, Hannah!
I think this is the most divine looking soup I’ve ever seen. Your soba noodles look very interesting as well. I’ve had a few types, but I’ve never seen matcha. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it… I love extra color in any dish! Also, I didn’t know not to boil miso! Thank you – I will keep that in mind, now!
Damn, that is a bowl of cuteness!
This is really embarassing but since I knew that black beans were bad luck before I clicked on this post in my google reader I was envisioning that you had made some sort of black eyed pea drink. Silly me!
Ooooh I love green tea soba noodles! PF Changs has them and I always wondered where I could buy them. I’ll check my local international market again before I order them online.
Inspirational and achievable-as usual :)
Matcha soba noodles?!? I must find those!! Yum. Are those mushrooms real? They look like you created them somehow. So cute.
This is great! I didn’t think there was a version of fish free dashi! Gorgeous photo :)
I really wanted to slurp some noodles on New Years day! Love your bowl and dashi recipe :)
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