I was at my friend’s house the other night and while we were making dinner I found a Chinese sesame paste in her fridge, which she told me she uses for hot pot. It’s similar to tahini but the sesame seeds are deeply roasted before being processed, making for a dark golden brown paste that’s very rich and earthy in flavour. Taking a nod from hot-pot, I used it in a soup broth and the result was so creamy and deeply flavoured.
I also added some miso and chili crisp for umami and that MSG goodness. I’m using soba because combining it with sesame just makes sense in my mind and that’s good enough for me (I wasn’t wrong btw, the combo was perfect). Also, you can totally sub the sesame paste with tahini if that’s what you have on hand, I just love the extra roasted sesame quality that this adds.
Sesame Miso Soba Noodle Soup w/ Seared Tofu
(serves 2)
1 tsp oil
3 green onions, whites and green separated, finely sliced
1 tbsp chili crisp oil
100 g mushrooms
pinch of salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups water
3 tbsps sesame paste
1.5 tbsps miso
1/4 cup hot water
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 servings of soba noodles
Tofu:
1 tbsp oil
1/2 254g block tofu, sliced into triangles
1 tbsp soy sauce
Garnish:
Green onion greens, finely sliced
Toasted sesame seeds
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add whites of green onion and sauté for about a minute or so. Then add mushrooms and a pinch of salt and sauté until the mushrooms are lightly golden brown. Add chili crisp and garlic and sauté until fragrant, another 2 minutes or so. Add water to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
In the meantime, stir together sesame paste, miso and hot water in a small bowl and cook soba noodles according to package directions.
Pour soy sauce over the tofu slices and make sure each side gets coated. Let it marinate for 5-10 minutes. Heat oil in a small pan and fry tofu on each side until golden brown.
Remove the broth from the heat and stir in sesame-miso mixture along with sesame oil and the greens of your green onion.
Divide noodles between two bowls. Pour over the broth and top with seared tofu, more green onion and toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!
A little while ago I saw a photo of a whole block of tofu coated in some kind of sticky sauce and it’s been on my mind ever since. So I decided to try it out myself with a gochujang glaze, and the result was truly show-stopping and delicious. *Note: I did not score the tofu in the photos below, which is why there is no sauce coating the interior, but I highly recommend doing so if you want more sauce (and therefore more flavour).
Whole Block of Gochujang Glazed Tofu
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