20 minute, spicy asian, veggie noodle soup + an 8 minute egg
This soup is always on my regular weeknight rotation for dinner, it is super warming with its spicy kick, bursting with flavour and it can be thrown together in 20 minutes, I love it. I don’t recall how I made this soup up, I think it was one of those I want something to taste good but I don’t want to put any work into nights that it came about. Sometimes that is the way to goes though, especially with soups. Just start adding dashes and tsp’s and swigs and in the end you come out with this medley of flavours, ready for a wonky ceramic bowl and a cozy spot on the couch.
I have to tell you first, this weekend Paul and I finally made it out to Mystic Beach, found along Jordon River here on Vancouver Island. If you live on the Island and have never been or are visiting the island looking for a special spot I highly recommend making this one of your destinations.
It is utterly breathtaking, exceeded our expectations tenfold. It is a little hike, 2 km down to literally a mystical beach inlet. The hike is relatively easy, except this time of year it is quite muddy so wear your rain boots and bring a towel for the dog afterwards. Dog owner mistake #34354 no towel after muddy walks equals using an entire roll of paper towel and getting rolling eyes from the dog owners with towels. Like hello total rookie move! In our defense we had just taken the dog towels out of the car to be washed and yes, simultaneously forgot to put them back in the car before the muddiest walk of Solomon's life. No biggie or anything.
Anyways, as if the beauty of the hike through the tall thin forest trees, with surprise bridge crossings and stump pathways wasn't magical enough. The moment you step off the last stairway down to the beach is almost dream like. The day we went the sun was peeking perfectly through grey clouds so the beach was lit with the most gorgeous light, casting rays in all the right places. It almost looked like it was sunset in the afternoon. On one end of the beach is a huge rushing waterfall (hence the bridge crossing in the earlier hike) with a rope swing. Another rookie move, watch the younger ones doing the rope swing before you attempt it in your old age otherwise you might be hiking back up with wet shoes and no socks! That was Paul not me, what we didn’t know was you were supposed to actually get up high on the swing not just grace the ocean waves with your bum, it was a tad embarrassing.
I have posted a couple of photos of our beach adventure on my Instagram, if you don’t already follow me you can find me @lyndsey_eden I am sure I will post a few more here and there too. Also it is my favourite social media platform, so it is where I am playing daily with life snippets. If you were interested ;)
20 minute spicy asian veggie noodle soup
ingredients
7 cups of water or veggie broth (or you can use veggie paste, see below)
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce (light or regular, I have used both)
1 tbsp of vegetable paste (only use if using water and not veggie broth)
1-2 tsp of sambal oelek or to taste (you could also use sriracha)
1 square of rice noodles
1 small white onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 inch of fresh ginger
half a green pepper
half a red pepper
3 broccoli florets
3 cauliflower florets
2 small baby bok choys
garnish
1 lime
- one bunch of cilantro
one bunch of basil
sesame seeds
bean sprouts
2 eggs
directions
Mince the onion, garlic and ginger. Set aside
Place a soup pot on the stove on medium heat, add in 2 tbsp of sesame oil, let that heat up and then add the onion, ginger and garlic. Saute until browned then add 7 cups of water or veggie broth (add in the veggie paste once the water comes to a boil is using) bring to a boil.
While the water is coming to a boil you can chop the veggies, thinly slice the peppers, chop the broccoli and cauliflower into small florets and cut the butt end of the bok choy off and roughly chop.
Once the water has come to a boil turn it back down to a high simmer and add in the soy sauce, sambal oelek and rice noodles. Once the noodles start to come apart and are mostly cooked (about 5 minutes) add in the remaining veggies except the bok choy. Cook for another 5 minutes, then add in the bok choy at the very end. In a large soup bowl, squeeze some lime into the bottom and add the soup. Top with an 8 minute egg (directions below), lots of cilantro, basil, bean sprouts and serve!
8 minute egg
This is definitely preference, you can make a 6 or 7 minute egg using the same method below, 8 just happens to be my magic number.
In a small pot, fill it with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add in the eggs one at a time slowly with a slotted spoon (the key is slowly as so they don’t crack), set a timer for 8 minutes. Once the timer goes off, take each egg out with the slotted spoon and place directly into a cool water bath.
Peel and you should have the perfect soft boiled egg!
