Hot & Sour Soup with Cilantro Noodles

I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last post! Fall semester was...crazy...but crazy in a good, busy way. Although I haven't been posting, we've still been cooking, and we have hit upon a couple awesome new recipes, so I'll try to get those up in the next coming weeks.

To start out the new year right, though, I wanted to post this recipe. It has quickly become my husband's and my favorite soup recipe. The broth is incredibly complex and flavorful and packs just the right amount of heat. This is the type of soup that will totally warm you up on a cold winter night. There are several ingredients, but because we cook a lot of Asian inspired food, we tend to have many of these on hand. But besides some chopping, this recipe is actually surprisingly easy, and with two people cooking it comes together in about 30 minutes.

(makes about 5 servings)
Ingredients
-8 C chicken broth (sub vegetable broth if making vegetarian/vegan)
-2 T brown sugar
-2 inches of ginger (~3 T), grated
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1 T Sriracha
-4 C shredded green cabbage (about 1 whole small head)
-1 package sliced shiitake mushrooms
-1 package extra-firm tofu, diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-1 serrano chile, sliced
-1/4 C rice vinegar
-juice of one lime
-1 T cornstarch

Noodles
-3-4 package ramen noodles
-2 T minced shallots
-1/2 C fresh cilantro
-1 T sesame oil
-1 T canola or vegetable oil
-2 T soy sauce

Steps

1. Combine broth, brown sugar, ginger, soy sauce, garlic, and Sriracha, serrano in a large pot. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
2. Bring another medium to large sized pot to boil with water, and cook ramen noodles for 3 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.
3a. Add cabbage, mushrooms, tofu to soup and simmer for about 5 minutes.

3b. While the soup is simmering, add sesame and canola oil to the pot you boiled the noodles in. Get the oil hot, then add your diced shallots and saute for about 2 minutes. Then, deglaze the pot with the soy sauce, and add the noodles, tossing to combine. Once the noodles are done, add the cilantro, turn the heat off, and put a lid on the pot and set aside.

4. After the soup has simmered for 5 or so minutes, whisk together the rice vinegar, lime, and cornstarch. Add this to the soup to thicken it a bit. Boil the soup for another 1-2 minutes.
5. Serve soup with cilantro noodles and garnish with diced red bell pepper (my picture of the big soup pot shows the red pepper already added, but we've learned adding it in last keeps it nice and crunchy).