mock ramen soup with cheat's kimchi

Well this post has been boiling up in my drafts for weeks.

I wanted to write a simple post about this very simple vegetarian everyday soup served with a super fast cheat's kimchi, the recipes of which I came up with when my daughter was (again) asking for something Japanese-inspired, and when (again) I found, upon looking in the fridge, that the miso paste I had counted on having for my soup was in fact months beyond its best before date which to me was too much beyond for a fermented product.

Thus was born one of our new favorite autumn soup recipes, essentially a play on the traditional dish of ramen noodles with vegetables & broth, but without the miso broth or the soba noodles (unavailable in our small town) which would make it a little more authentic. Hence the name, mock ramen soup, a devout fan’s reference to the classic Gilmore Girls episode in which Richard, grieving the loss of his mother, refuses to eat anything but the mock turtle soup of his childhood memories.

Some have suggested that mock turtle soup might just be the original American chicken soup for its soul-healing qualities, andI think this mock ramen soup might very well be the vegetarian version for just that.

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However, as I started writing this post on a vegetarian dish that could easily be made vegan depending on the choice of stock one decides to use, and also a dish that really might be considered a horrible form of cultural appropriation (ramen noodles and kimchi do not even originate in the same country!), I found  myself thinking, increasingly, about how very dogmatic we have become when it comes to the food we eat.

You have the strict vegans who promote a plant-based diet for ethical and health reasons that I completely get. However, I worry about their protein intake sometimes, looking at their instagrammed plates practically devoid of any source of plant-based protein that even vaguely mimics the animal proteins our system craves to function properly. Do they eat enough nooch (nutritional yeast) to cover their B12 needs? Do they eat soy-based products to take in some proteins that most resemble those you would find in animal products? Do they take supplements for calcium, or drink nut milk with added calcium in it? Because our bodies actually do need all these vitamins and nutrients to sustain themselves.

Then there are the devout carnivores who will defend their right to eat meat until there are no more pigs to slaughter. They'll tell you humans have always been omnivores and that we need meat for our bodies to function. Therefore, they'll tell you, it is ok for them to eat their 500 grams of factory-produced steak every day, should they feel like it. We need meat, they'll say, we need our proteins! Except, what they fail to tell you, and I suspect they fail because they don't know it, humans don't actually need to be consuming as much animal products as we Westeners do these day for our protein intake to be sufficient. In fact, we are currently eating loads more protein than our bodies need biologically. How's that for a possible reason for our weight-gaining epidemic?

No reason at all, would be the answer from anyone on a keto or paleo diet. While ketosis is sure to have you losing weight, that weight loss won't be sustainable unless you keep eating the way you eat while on your keto diet. I worry sometimes whether our keto friends, having lost huge amounts of weight and feeling great, have a ticking time bomb in their blood veins. Saturated fat will do that to you, increase your risk of heart disease, cholesterol problems, and even cancer. I'm not making this up, there's science to back it up. Just Google it if you don't believe me.

The dogmatic eater group I love the most, I think, is the non-dogmatic group. What is this silly sugar-free nonsense anyway, they'll ask you. You'll find them wondering why on earth would anyone make their cinnamon rolls gluten free and lose heaps of the structure and taste that a regular wheat roll would have. They'll encourage you to listen to your body, and eat what's healthy for you and your environment, and to set no stupid boundaries around what you will and will not eat.

Then they'll sneer at your non-dairy, sugar-free waffle batter, which feels a tad (or a bit more) unfriendly and dogmatic, but I love them anyway, because they are wise; I do believe we should be eating whatever feels good for our bodies and anything that our ethical reasoning can vouch for.

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In the light of all that, I figured a little primer on why we eat what we eat in my family would be a fun thing to share before actually sharing any recipes. So as to not sound so very dogmatic, because honestly, I am not. And also, I am not here to condemn anyone, though my heavily applied sarcasm in the previous paragraphs might suggest I am all for damnation when it comes to other people's food choices. We all eat what we eat, and who am I to say what's right and wrong. (Though I do have some very nutritional science facts-based opinions of my own on that matter.)

So here's a partial synopsis of our food philosophy in this family:

1. We eat gluten free because my husband has celiac which means he might develop intestine cancer should any gluten pass his lips. And in case he doesn't, you'll find him in the loo floor for the next 24 hrs anyway, because gluten upsets his stomach terribly. 
2. We do not drink or use milk because not doing so seems to have cured my daughter of asthma, eczema, and other related ailments. We do dairy, but you'll never find actual cow's milk in our fridge.
3. We eat a lot of (seasonal) vegetables because they've got all these amazing vitamins in them.
4. We eat lots of seeds like sunflower and flax, but not so many nuts as they don't really grow in Finland. Mind you, importing them from across the Atlantic has been proven to be better for the environment than eating factory-produced meat. Same goes for fruit, and we eat a lot of imported fruit in this family simply because not a lot of fruit grows this far north.
5. We don't eat a lot of meat mainly for climate reasons. (Here's a link to the most credible study I've seen on this, and believe me I've read a lot of scientific studies on this during my Nutritional Studies stint at Uni last year. If you're European and would like to find out more about the impact of specific food groups, the BBC have a great calculator.) When we do eat meat, we try to eat local and organic. Mostly chicken and lamb. We're also extremely happy to eat game any time it's available, like rabbit or elk or birds, because we think that's the most humane choice of meat available.

And that's about it. That's why we eat what we eat. Onwards!

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Anyway, this was supposed to be a post about soup.

Which in this household we find ourselves craving for when it gets cold outdoors, because that's when it gets colder indoors as well as we're trying to reduce our consumption of energy, even if it is from a sustainable source. As the north-east wind shakes your windows in its attempts to get in, a bowl of steaming hot soup in front of you is the definition of cozy comfort. 

And because all things cozy appeal to me, I've posted recipes for veggie soups before, like Our Winter Soup and a carrot soup that ended up being known as Sun Soup in our family because of its color. The soups I've posted have mostly been of the puréed kind, as that was how we convinced our daughter to eat just about anything when she was little. Not digging the eggplants in ratatouille? Purée it, throw in some pasta, and call it a spaghetti soup. Refusing to eat beans? Throw them in a puréed soup. She's a true omnivore now; we haven't yet come across food she will not at least try. 

(Also now, at the age of ten, she is able to convincingly quote her mother to her friends: 'according to scientific studies, you won't know if you really like or hate something until you've tried it ten times, because that's how many times it takes for our taste buds to adjust'. Super proud.)

Lately though, she's been on this Japanese cuisine binge, wanting to have sushi and noodles always and always. She'd be happy with just some yakisoba noodles quickly fried and seasoned, but I figure plain wheat with lotsa salt isn't really a meal, and yakisoba is a rare treat in our little corner of this world, so I've tried to come up with ways to cook Japanese-influenced meals with the limited ingredients we have available here in the middle of nowhere.

Of the following recipe I am especially excited about because it's quick, simple, and can be made with whichever veggies happen to be at hand in your fridge (you could even use frozen ones from your freezer on a busy week night). So, without further a-do, I present unto you:

Mock Ramen Soup with Cheat's Kimchi
(serves 4)

300 grams vegetables of choice prepped and chopped as needed*
1 small Chinese cabbage
1 litre water
Pinch of salt
200g of rice noodles (or any which variety you have at hand)
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons of Tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
1 teaspoom of shriracha
1 lime

* Chop your chosen vegetables so that they will cook through in approximately the same amount of time. I used green beans, kale and broccoli in my soup because they happened to be in season and in my fridge, but you could just as well use anything from carrots to cauliflower.

For the Cheat's kimchi:

Finely chop the leafy top parts of the Chinese cabbage. In a bowl, mix chopped cabbage, shriracha and the juice of one lime. Set aside to soak in flavors.

For the Mock ramen soup:

Boil a litre of water with a pinch of salt. Chop the rest of your Chinese cabbage. Once the water is boiling, place your veggies in the water and cook until almost done. Then add your noodles in the same pot, and cook until tender. Strain noodles and veggies, and divide into bowls.

Pour your stock into a kettle and quickly bring up the heat until steaming. Add tamari and rice vinegar and mix with a spoon.

Pour hot stock over each noodle bowl. Place desired amount of Cheat's kimchi on the side of each bowl (taste kimchi before serving it to children though, it can be surprisingly spicy). Serve with a side of eggs fried in sesame oil for added protein unless vegan or allergic.

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I hope this post won't amount to just a lots-a-do about nothing and you'll enjoy this simple soup recipe as much as we did. Let me know if you end up making it and how it turns out. Wishing you cozy & gloomy October  evenings with bowlfuls of comforting soups.