Japanese Noodle Soup for Camping & Hiking

Ingredients

by Kalina

Ingredients:

Soba noodles (100g)

Hard-boiled egg (65g)

Dashi stock (11g)

Dried veggies (20g) (shiitakes, broccoli, corn and zucchini)

Soy Sauce (4g)

Nori/Furikake/Seasame seeds (2g)

Method: With this recipe, I used about 650-750ml of water. Once the water is boiling put the soba and the veggies in and keep boiling. Soba needs a lot of water to cook so don't skimp on it (unless water availability is an issue where you are). The noodles need about 2-3 min to cook, which is about the right amount of time for the veggies to re-hydrate. Once they are done, take off the heat. At this stage, you can pour some of the water out but be mindful that the noodle and the veggies will keep absorbing so if you want to have a bit more of a soup I would not pour any out. Add the stock, soy sauce, and sesame oil, and mix together. Pop the egg on top and sprinkle with your garnish.

Notes:

This is a protein-packed meal (about 35% of your recommended daily intake!). We often forget about eggs when hiking, but they are an amazing thing to add to a dish to bulk it up in a nutritious way or just as a quick track-side snack. A hard-boiled egg can last for up to 4 days outside of the fridge (depending on the outside temperature, so perhaps not in summer) so next time make sure you pack a couple.

You should be able to find most of the ingredients for this meal in the Japanese section of the supermarket.

Nori is a great source of micronutrients, goes with most things and adds a very distinct flavour to dishes. I usually get the big dried nori sheets and just cut them up to size depending on what I need them for.

Dashi stock is a staple of Japanese cooking. It’s a subtle favour made from kombu (kelp) and bonito flakes (aka the bacon of the sea) and forms the basis for many dishes. If you are vegetarian/vegan there are versions that substitute bonnito with shiitakes. The one in our local supermarket is “Spiral Foods” brand. They come in individual serving packets and have both a bonito and a vegan version.

Furikake is an umami-packed Japanese seasoning that you can sprinkle on top of pretty much everything. At home, we call it Rice Sprinkles because it makes rice taste amazing. There are many variations but it’s basically made up of sesame seeds, nori, salt, sugar and can include bonito, miso, shiitake, chilli and so on. I find these days you can find it in most Coles but if you can, then a very simple substitute for it would be chopped up nori and toasted sesame seeds (put some black ones in there too if you have them in the spice cupboard).   

With the dried veggies, you can, as always, use ones to your preference. For this meal, however, I would recommend shiitakes, broccoli, corn and zucchini (with this one I used some peas as well).  

It is also very hearty and filling so make sure you are really hungry.