Oodles of Noodles- Black Rice Noodles, Tempeh & Miso Sauce

Author Notes

I actually made this dish a while ago and have been meaning to share it, sorry it’s taken so long! It’s been of my winter favourites, comforting, spicy and full of good things. I know now we’re actually closer to spring but you can mix up the veg to whatever is seasonal or you feel like, and lets face it Spring doesn’t always mean warm.. (Sad face) You can also switch out the tempeh to another protein that suits you better or keep it veg!

So tempeh..? I hear you ask. Tempeh is a fermented soy food, originating from Indonesia, like most fermented foods and foods prepared using traditional methods it’s really good for you! Fermentation means it’s full of probiotics, unlike tofu and other processed soy products such as soy milk, the soy beans are whole, fermentation makes the beans much more digestible and full of goodness too!

Miso has also long been celebrated as a health food, but as well as that, what a great ingredient to cook with! You don’t need to be cooking Asian recipes to make room for this super ingredient. It adds a great depth of flavour and unami to all sorts of dishes, sauce and dressings. I used it in the cauliflower recipe I posted back in the new year for example! You can get darker and lighter miso’s, ranging from saltier to sweeter, here I used yellow miso which is on the sweeter side.

For this recipe I’ve mostly focused on the dressing. You can add it to any sort of stir fry you’re cooking up. Or if you don’t feel like the stir fry this miso dressing also works just a general dressing for a salad, vegetables, grains, whatever you like.! Steam some veg, some quinoa and serve with sauce, some nuts and seeds, super satisfying!

One last note before the recipe, I’ve put umbeboshi paste as optional because I know there’s a long list of ingredients here, you could substitute with a little more lime or rice vinegar if needed. Umbeboshi has a sour taste, with great medicinal properties, it’s alkalising for the body, used to replace aspirin in Chinese medicine, one tip, it’s a great hangover cure!

All these ingredients are available at Asian supermarkets, health food shops and larger supermarkets. —Kali