Back home in Sweden I have a close friend lives quite close to me. He participated in this last vegan challenge and shares my passion for cooking. Back when I still lived at home we used to meet about once a month in his little apartment and have dinner together. Every time we chose a different cuisine, and in his little kitchen that is barely big enough to turn around in we traveled from Asia, to Mexico and Morocco. This is a recipe inspired by one of those dinners. A wonderfully fragrant coconut milk soup that tickles your nose buds with smells of ginger, lime and garlic. Just as a happy bonus the soup is also simple stupid to make!
This is one of those dishes that you really can make your own, depending on the season and what you prefer. Firstly, choose the kind of noodles you prefer. I used soba this time, my good friend made it for me using thick, fresh Udon, which was delicious! Secondly, you can use any of your favorite veggies. I used carrots and cabbage simply because that was what was in season. Also, the cabbage is fun because you can slice it in thin long strips making it resemble noodles. You could go for sugar snaps, broccoli or even a frozen wok mix to make it even simpler (fresh veggies are tastier though).
There is one critical aspect of serving this soup that I won't allow you to compromise. You have to serve it with fresh lime wedges. This is how you do it: squeeze the juice into your bowl and then pop the wedge in the bowl. This will infuse certain parts of the soup with more lime than others, making it oh so much more interesting to eat!
A fragrant meal for two
2 scallions
1 clove o garlic
½ jalapeno
10 g ginger
5 g fresh turmeric or 1 tsp. dried turmeric
2 tsp. finely minced lemongrass
1 carrot
150 g savoy or white cabbage
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 Poblano pepper or small green pepper
3 dl coconut milk
5 dl water
100 g dry noodles (or an equivalent amount of fresh noodles)
300 g extra-firm tofu
This is a really simple soup to make, and once you get cooking it goes fast. So start by getting all the ingredients prepared. Heat a pot of water for cooking the noodles. Slice the scallions, finely chop the garlic and jalapeno. Grate the ginger and turmeric if you're using fresh. Remove the zest from the lime. Finely mince the lemongrass.
Cut the carrot into matchsticks and slice the cabbage into thin strips. Slice the pepper. Slice the tofu or cut it in cubes.
When the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and remove the starch to keep the noodles from sticking to each other.
Heat a wok pan (or regular frying pan) to high heat. Add a splash of oil and the tofu. Season with salt and drizzle som chili sauce over it. Toss the pan often or flip the tofu over so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Fry until the tofu has a nice browned surface. Remove from the pan.
Scrape out any leftover tofu scraps from the pan and return it to the heat. Add another splash of oil. Add the ginger, garlic, scallions, jalapeno, turmeric and lime zest. Fry stirring often until very fragrant. Add the carrot and cabbage and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the pepper, soy sauce, coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 2 minutes. Add the noodles and heat only until the noodles are warm again.
Serve in pretty bowls with the tofu. Top the soup with cilantro leaves. Squeeze a few lime wedges into the soup and then leave the wedges in the bowl.
