Soba with Mushrooms

The heart of this soup is a soy-based broth, which was surprisingly flavorful considering how little time it took to make. The textures in this dish are great-the soft noodles and mushrooms paired with crunchy radishes and green onions, plus the flavor boost from the egg yolk mixed in at the last moment. The downside: it's not a soup that would hold up well the second night, since the noodles are very absorbent and you want the radishes to stay crispy. Definitely a make-to-order meal. I also made the mistake of using more noodles than necessary, so my ratios were a bit off (not enough broth, as you can see above.) The recipe below is adjusted to correct that. I used this recipe from Bon Appetit, with some adjustments.

A final note: Sky and I agreed the soup could use some heat. If I had Sriracha in the house, I would have added some when I was mixing everything together at the end. You could also cook the mushrooms with a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Total time to cook: 50 minutes
Makes two servings

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 one-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium, or not, if you live dangerously)
1 large portabello mushroom, cut into one-inch pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Black pepper, to season
4 oz. soba
2 large radishes, thinly sliced
2 egg yolks
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (to toast, add the seeds to a dry pan over medium heat and toast until they start to turn brown, just for a minute or two)

Steps:
- In a medium pot, add the garlic and ginger to two cups of water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and remove the broth from the heat.

- In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook the mushrooms until they release their liquid completely and start to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Once the mushrooms start to release their liquid, season them with black pepper (and red pepper flakes, if you're adding that.)

- While the mushrooms are cooking, bring water to boil in a large pot. Cook the soba until the noodles are al dente, about five to seven minutes. Drain the noodles and mix in the broth.

- In your serving bowls, divide the broth, noodles, radishes, green onions and mushrooms. Top with sesame seeds. Stir in the egg yolks and serve immediately.