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–+ servings
Steaming bowl of vegan soba noodle soup with carrot rounds and wakame, topped with sesame and nori furikake, on a dark windowsill with autumn leaves outside and a dish of sesame nearby.

Miso Soba Noodle Soup with Vegan Furikake

A clear vegetable and kombu broth with carrots, onion, shiitake and wood ear mushrooms, wakame and buckwheat soba noodles, finished with white miso off the heat and topped with a salt-free vegan furikake of toasted sesame and nori.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Choose Serving Size 6 bowls

Equipment

  • Large pot
  • Frying pan

Ingredients 

For the soup

  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 piece kombu about 8 inches / 20 cm
  • 2 carrots medium, cut into thick rounds
  • 1 white onion thinly sliced
  • 4 shiitake mushrooms dried
  • 1 handful wood ear mushrooms dried, a small handful, about 5 g
  • 4 green onions sliced
  • 3 tbsp wakame dried
  • 8 oz soba noodles
  • 2-3 tbsp white miso paste to taste

For the vegan furikake

  • 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp nori flakes or 1 nori sheet, crumbled

Instructions

  • Put the dried shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in a bowl, cover them with hot water and soak for about 20 minutes, until soft.
  • Make the furikake: toast the white and black sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant and the white seeds turn lightly golden. Let them cool, then mix with the nori flakes.
  • Put the vegetable broth, water and kombu in a large pot and bring slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  • Lift out the kombu, slice it into thin strips and return the strips to the pot.
  • Drain the mushrooms, saving the soaking water. Cut off the tough shiitake stems, slice the caps and cut the wood ear into strips. Pour the soaking water into the pot through a fine sieve, leaving any grit behind.
  • Add the carrots, white onion and mushrooms and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until the carrots are almost tender.
  • Add the soba noodles and cook for 4-5 minutes (check the package), stirring now and then so they don't stick together.
  • For the last 2-3 minutes, add the wakame and most of the green onion, until the seaweed unfolds. Turn off the heat and let the soup rest for a few minutes, so it is no longer bubbling.
  • Put 2 tablespoons of miso in a mug or a ladle, add a little hot broth and whisk until smooth. Stir it into the pot. Taste and add more miso the same way if needed. Do not let the soup boil after adding the miso.
  • Ladle the soup and noodles into bowls and top with the remaining green onion and a spoonful of furikake.

Notes

I make my vegetable broth in the slow cooker from vegetable scraps and keep it in the freezer. Store-bought broth works too, or use water only with the kombu (the soup will be a little lighter). The soba cooks right in the soup, which makes the broth slightly thicker; if you're making the soup ahead, cook the noodles separately. How much miso you need depends on your miso and your broth, so start with 2 tablespoons. Kombu is very high in iodine: if you have a thyroid condition or you are pregnant or breastfeeding, ask your doctor first or leave it out. For gluten-free, use 100% buckwheat soba.