Today I had a craving for a light, brothy noodle soup resembling a fish ball noodle soup from Malaysia. I no longer eat fish balls but I decided to buy some dried anchovies from an asian shop to make a soup stock. I put everything I had my cupboard and refrigerator that I thought would work to enhance the flavour and it hit the spot on a dull, rainy summer day.
You can find dried anchovies, seaweed mustard (or wakame), kombu and dried black fungus in asian shops. Saltbush comes from the leaves of an Australian bush that is dried and has a naturally salty taste. Pure porcini and kelp powders is available in most good grocery stores or on-line. All of these ingredients are wonderful flavour boosters.
Use what you have and love to make your own!
Brothy Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Soup stock
8-9 cups filtered water
4 square pieces of dried kombu seaweed, rinsed
50 grams dried anchovies, rinsed
Noodle Soup
1 large red onion, peeled and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbs No fish sauce (see post dated 2 January 2026) (or Redboat/Son fish sauce)
1 tbs pure porcini powder
2 tsp pure kelp powder
1 tbs pure saltbush
2 tsp Himalayan pink salt (omit if using fish sauce)
freshly ground pepper
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
15 grams dried Korean mustard seaweed (or dried wakame), rinsed and soaked according to package instructions
2 handfuls of dried black fungus, rinsed and soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes
300 grams fresh mushrooms (button, shitake, oyster etc), chopped
70-80 grams organic sweet potato noodles, per serving
fresh mung bean sprouts, washed, spun and dried, for serving
sambal or hot sauce, for serving (optional)
crunchy dried white organic onions, for serving (optional
Method
Start by making the broth. Fill a medium sized dutch oven with about 8-9 cups of filtered water. Add four squares of kombu seaweed and 50 grams of rinsed, dried anchovies. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for an hour.
While the broth cooks, peel and chop the onion and garlic. Chop the mushrooms dusting off any dirt. In a bowl, place the rinsed black fungus and in another place the rinsed seaweed. Wash, spin and dry the fresh mung bean sprouts. About 10 minutes before the stock is finished, add boiling water to the seaweed and fungus and allow to soak.
When the stock has simmered for an hour, remove the anchovies and seaweed with a slotted spoon. Then add the onion, garlic, No fish sauce, porcini and kelp powders, saltbush, salt and ground pepper.
Drain the black fungus and seaweed and squeeze out all the excess water (preferably with gloves), chop and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the sesame oil and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
Fifteen minutes before the soup is finished cooking, bring a small pot of filtered water to a boil and cook the noodles according to package instructions. Drain the noodles when cooked and place in a bowl or bowls.
Spoon the hot soup over the noodles and place a handful of fresh mung bean sprouts, some dried onions on top with a spoonful of sambal or hot sauce if desired!
Slurp your way to contentment!