Mushroom-Miso Soup with Shrimp and Udon

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SERVES 4

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS We wanted a deeply-flavored soup inspired by Japanese cuisine, but it couldn’t take all day to make or rely on a two-page list of ingredients. Our first step was finding a substitute for the homemade dashi, a traditional Japanese soup base made of bonito flakes and seaweed. Store-bought vegetable broth worked well, providing vegetal notes and a subtle sweetness. To up the broth’s savory depth, we added thin-sliced shiitakes and let them simmer for 10 minutes. White miso paste, stirred in at the end of cooking, provided complexity and a hint of nuttiness to our broth. Finished with chewy udon noodles, tender shrimp, and fresh spinach, this satisfying soup offered serious depth of flavor in a short amount of time. Don’t be tempted to salt the noodle cooking water in step 1 or else the soup may taste too salty. Click here for more information on miso. See the Test Kitchen Tip that follows the recipe.

12	ounces udon noodles
3	ounces (3 cups) baby spinach
10	ounces shiitake mushrooms
3½	cups vegetable broth
12	ounces extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound)
½	cup white miso

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add noodles and cook until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse under warm water to remove excess starch. Drain noodles well, then portion into individual serving bowls and top with spinach.

2. Meanwhile, stem and thinly slice mushrooms. Bring broth, 2 cups water, and mushrooms to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently until flavors meld and mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Peel shrimp completely (including tails), devein, and cut each shrimp into 3 pieces. Whisk miso and ½ cup water together in bowl. Off heat, stir miso mixture and shrimp into soup, cover, and let sit until shrimp are just pink, 1 to 2 minutes. Ladle soup into prepared bowls and serve.