Sometimes, it’s nice to let someone else do the cooking. To be able to sit back, kick your feet up, enjoy a glass of wine and just relax.
Am, I right or am I right?
You know what’s even better, when the meal that’s being cooked is this Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup. Oh baby, this soup gets me every time.
In fact, I practically beg my husband to make it for me, at least twice a month. Yep, you read that right – my husband made this beautiful looking dish! When we first moved in together, he actually did the majority of the cooking and he is a whiz in the kitchen, let me tell you. I am a very lucky lady!
This Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup is hands down, my favourite dish that he makes. He has this uncanny ability to be able to throw a whole bunch of stuff into a pot and turn it into a warm hug in a bowl. He’s the best!
This soup is so incredibly aromatic, just waiting for it to cook is actually painful sometimes – I just want it in my tummy! Delicious ingredients and authentic spices like star anise, ginger and cinnamon are the secret weapons at work here. Plus, it’s bursting with plump, juicy mushrooms and bright, fresh bok choy. Toss in some tofu and it’s every girls’ heart’s delight…or maybe just this girl’s, but that’s cool too. As you know from my past posting of Tofu Chop Suey, this girl has a special soft spot for Asian dishes.
Other than all the crisp, fresh veggies, my all-time favourite part of this Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup are the noodles. In fact, I usually ask for extras!
Usually, we would make this soup with chow mein noodles but since we’ve been making the switch towards a gluten-free lifestyle, we decided to try out these awesome sweet potato noodles that we found at our local international grocery store. The results: pure genius! These sweet potato noodles are actually just like soba noodles when it comes to texture, making a welcomed addition to this Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup.
Awww would you look at how cute my hubby is when he cooks? He really is a soup mastermind!
This Mushroom Asian noodle soup does take a bit of time to cook but trust me, it’s worth it to let the flavours meld together. I think the trick to any good soup is patience, really. The longer you let your base simmer, the deeper and richer your flavours are going to be.
Like all of our recipes, this Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup is vegan and gluten-free. It’s also the perfect way to warm up when the temperature outside is less than tolerable. With this constant change between spring, winter and everything in between, this soup is a great way to ward off a chill, warming you up from the inside out. Need an extra kick? Top your Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup with Sriracha sauce, like we did!
So as I leave you with this gorgeous shot of pure vegan, gluten-free noodle perfection, I would definitely suggest making up a giant pot of this Mushroom Asian Noodle Soup for yourself. We love to see your creations online so make sure you tag them #glutenfreeveganpantry and post them to Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
Oh and before I leave, I just wanted to point out a super awesome share feature at the bottom of each of our posts. For those of you who might not be familiar with it, there is a really great food sharing site called Yummly. Yummly allows you to search for any recipe that your heart desires and even maintains an online recipe box for you. Plus, it’s smart enough to offer personalized recipe suggestions, perfect for those of us trying to maintain our vegan and gluten-free lifestyles. Check out Gluten Free Vegan’s publisher page on Yummly and feel free to share any of our posts by clicking on the “Yum” button in the share bar below!
Lots of love & happy eats,
Savanna
- 1 L vegetable broth
- 4 L water
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 16 baby bok choy, chopped
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into eighths
- 100 g dry shiitakes, whole or 12 fresh shiitakes sliced in half
- 6 gloves garlic, minced
- 32 points star anise, whole (or 5 grams)
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 80 g fresh ginger, sliced
- 328 g firm tofu, cubed (this is a stand package of tofu, about ¾ lbs)
- 4 fresh green onions, finely sliced
- 332 g dry sweet potato noodles (about ¾ lbs)
- GF soy sauce and Sriracha sauce to taste
- In a large soup pot, bring 2L water and broth to a boil. In a separate pot for the noodles, add remaining 2L water and bring to boil.
- While the water and broth are heating up, heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the oil, star anise, cinnamon, ginger and garlic and heat until you can smell the aromas, about 2-3 minutes and then add to the large soup pot with the boiling water and broth.
- If you are using dry shiitakes, add them to the boiling broth now and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Depending on how hard your shiitakes are, this might take a little longer - the mushrooms should be just about soft enough to eat. If you are using fresh shiitakes, you can add them now too, but only boil for 5 minutes.
- While the shiitakes are cooking, add the dry noodles to the smaller pot and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until al dente. You can follow the instructions on the package for this. Once they are cooked, drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside.
- Add the tofu, onions, water chestnuts and bok choy to the soup and cook until bok choy is bright green, about 5 minutes, then take the pot off the stove.
- In a large soup bowl, add about ¼ of noodles and top with soup bowl is full. Garnish with green onions, GF soy sauce and Sriracha sauce.
Savanna is the photographer, food stylist, head taste-tester and she-brains behind Gluten Free Vegan Pantry. 
Wow this is amazing – I love just reading this Asian dish – sooo going to do this tomorrow. Thank you for this amazing website, great recipes and photos, and I love the ‘waffle’ at the beginning of each recipe – makes me feel like you are actually talking to me. New to being completely vegan although I’ve been a veggie for thirty years and to be honest apart from tea and chocolate was pretty much there – but you’ve made me feel so inspired with all your recipes – thank you so much for being such a lovely person and taking the time to share – much love!x
Thanks so much for your kind words Tracy! xoxo
Where do you purchase sweet potato noodles? Also one of your other recipes called for spinach noodles? I’ve recently found out that I cannot eat wheat bc of a severe allergy. These noodles appear to be both gluten free and more nutritious than the ordinary noodles found in the store. It’s always good to find more nutritious options but I’m not sure where to find them?
I’ve only ever been able to find sweet potato noodles from an Asian super market. Spinach noodles can be found at most health food stores though.