Egg Noodles With Soy Broth

By Mark Bittman

Egg Noodles With Soy Broth
Evan Sung for The New York Times
Total Time
About 30 minutes
Rating
4(75)
Notes
Read community notes

This is a tasty, fast, cheap, infinitely variable broth-and-noodle combination. Its preparation is slowed down only by waiting for the water to boil. A key ingredient is ketchup; if you can’t bear that thought, you can use tomato paste instead. There’s also Sriracha, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil, all of which add character. The noodles I use are fresh egg pasta, but just about any kind of noodle can be used. Once you’ve made this once, you’ll probably want to take it to a showier place. Cook thinly sliced shallot, ginger or garlic in a little peanut oil before adding the water for the “broth,” or add sliced celery, bean sprouts, snow peas or sliced carrots to it. Switch to rice noodles, soba, ordinary dried pasta or mung bean threads if you like.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Salt
  • ⅓cup soy sauce, more to taste
  • ⅓cup ketchup or 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 1tablespoon rice wine vinegar, more to taste
  • A few drops dark sesame oil (optional)
  • A squirt of Sriracha or other sauce, or a dried red chile to taste optional
  • 1pound egg noodles, preferably fresh
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

18 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 48 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. In a smaller pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil; once boiling, reduce heat so water bubbles gently.

  2. Step 2

    To the smaller pot add soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, sesame oil if using and Sriracha or chile, along with a pinch of salt. Stir and let simmer.

  3. Step 3

    Add egg noodles to large pot; fresh noodles will be ready in just a couple of minutes; dried will take longer. When tender but not mushy, drain. Taste broth and add more soy, salt, vinegar or heat as you like. Divide noodles into bowls and pour hot broth over all.

Ratings

4 out of 5
75 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

elmey

This is easy and flavourful and a great base for varied ingredients. I usually add vegetables of some sort, mushrooms, green onions, finely sliced cabbage (a couple of handfuls from a cole slaw mix work fine if you're in a hurry), etc. Instead of noodles, I often add Chinese dumplings in the broth.

Cooking In San Diego

This broth was wonderful and crazy easy. I halved the recipe and there was still enough broth for four bowls. Next time I will make the full recipe and freeze some of the broth. It is so easy to just use over noodles. I also added shrimp and topped with green onion, cilantro, thinly sliced jalapeño and sesame seeds.

Manda

The broth was bland. Next time I’ll spice it up with gochujang and garlic, maybe some green onions and bell peppers. I think it serves as a decent base but there just wasn’t a lot going on here

Kate

This was pretty good. The flavours went well with the egg noodle flavour, I don't think it would be as good with another type of noodle. I added what I had: garlic, ginger, carrots, frozen spinach, and gochujang. I used tomato paste instead of ketchup and it was VERY acidic, I had to add a few spoonfuls of brown sugar. I would probably use less tomato paste next time as the tomato flavour was a bit too forward.

lindy

This was an easy weeknight meal and we loved the broth. I made it with rice noodles and will make it with ramen next time. I added celery, carrot, mushrooms, and sliced cabbage to add some veggies and we topped with cilantro and green onion. 3 out of 5 loved it as is, 2 picky kids did not like the smell of the rice noodles, hence using ramen for next time!

Cooking in Durham, NC

Delicious. I added julienned large purple radish and broccoli. The flavors worked together nicely.

Kat K

Made this exactly as written (just added bok choy and shrimp)—too salty, and the ketchup is overpowering. Would not make again.

Cooking In San Diego

This broth was wonderful and crazy easy. I halved the recipe and there was still enough broth for four bowls. Next time I will make the full recipe and freeze some of the broth. It is so easy to just use over noodles. I also added shrimp and topped with green onion, cilantro, thinly sliced jalapeño and sesame seeds.

elmey

This is easy and flavourful and a great base for varied ingredients. I usually add vegetables of some sort, mushrooms, green onions, finely sliced cabbage (a couple of handfuls from a cole slaw mix work fine if you're in a hurry), etc. Instead of noodles, I often add Chinese dumplings in the broth.

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