I love soup. It is probably the ultimate comfort food. And often when I am sick or fatigued it is exactly what I want to eat. On those days I also don’t want to put much effort into cooking.
For this soup you simply toss aromatics into a pot of broth, simmer, cook the add-ins in the broth, garnish, and dig in.

Shrimp and Soba Noodle Soup
Ingredients
For the broth base
- 2 quarts (8 cups) stock (vegetable, fish, or chicken)
- 1 inch piece of ginger, minced or finely diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced or finely diced
- 2 star anise
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)
Add-ins
- 160 grams soba noodles (2/3 of a pack)
- 16 raw shrimp, peeled, tail-on
- 1/2 cup peas (frozen work fine here)
- 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
Garnish
- green onion
- fresh chives
- sesame oil
- black pepper
- chili peppers (optional)
Directions
- Add all the ingredients for the broth base to a stock pot, bring to a boil, then lower heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes or so. The longer you simmer, the stronger the flavour.
- Add soba noodles and bring back to a boil, simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add shrimp and peas, simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add baby spinach, cook until wilted and noodles and shrimp are cooked through, approx a minute more.
- Add garnishes.
This recipe can easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock, omitting the oyster sauce, and omitting the shrimp or replacing it with tofu.