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 | 57 56 | Chef’s table IN 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. PHOTOGRAPH: MARK WOOD FROM THE PANTRY MISO Miso 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 sushi How 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. SEAWEED Seaweeds 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.