Trader Joe’s Miso Ginger Broth and Fresh Rice Noodles Soup – Two ways to enjoy!
Alright, I didn’t even realize my post was going to be ginger related till I was typing the title. Third times the charm.
One thing I always keep stocked in my pantry is TJ’s Miso ginger broth. If I’m ever feeling sick or my stomach is bothering me I heat some up in a coffee mug and sip away. It’s so warming as it goes down to the tummy! I love it more than chicken noodle soup because it’s all broth and I’m super into anysoup that’s mostly broth. I’ve been known to leave all the veggies in a bowl and only eat the broth in most soups. Yeah, I’m one of those who doesn’t like their food to touch either.
The packaging is great because it has the resealable top so I can use it over the course of a few days. The box says refrigerate and use within 7-10 days.
I often like to try to figure out who makes the TJ’s products. Part from curiosity and part from if TJ’s ever stops carrying the product I can still get it at another store. The closest thing I can find is the 365 Everyday Value Miso Broth but it has different ingredients and is still a store brand made for Whole Foods. The search continues!
Ingredients: water, Miso broth (Miso [water, soybeans, rice, sea salt, koji starter], soy sauce [water, soybeans, salt, alcohol], ginger, vegetable puree [carrot, celery, onion], shiitake powder, yeast extract), ginger juice, and salt.
The sodium is a bit high like with any soup, 650mg per serving (1 cup/ 4 servings per container). But it’s not that high compared to other soups. Campbell’s Classic Chicken noodle soup comes in with a whopping 899mg of sodium per serving (1 cup).
On my last trip to TJ’s I finally decided to try their Fresh Rice Noodles. I’ve noticed them for the longest time but never quite knew what to do with them, then it hit me I can add them to the Miso ginger broth!
While Miso is Japanese, rice noodles are Korean. These are actually a product of South Korea. One great thing about this package is it come with 2 individual packets of noodles. One packet is plenty for 2 people. They are super quick to cook, 2 minutes in boiling water and they are done. I like to add a little salt and I found my preference was boiling them a few minutes longer than recommended, again personal preference. These noodles are super starchy. You drain and rinse the noodles, this is something I learned from trial and error and will get to later. It took a lot of rinsing to make them not feel sticky and to taste like a normal rice noodle. Like, a lot to get the water clear and not cloudy with white starch.
Ingredients: rice flour, water, tapioca starch, tapioca sugar, xanthan gum, guar, and salt.
These two products are great by themselves but I decided to try to make a rice noodle Miso soup. It was a rare cold rainy day in Southern California so it was the perfect chance to try this dish out. My first try did not come out like expected. But luckily the noodles have two packs and I still had half a box of Miso ginger broth.
My first try I decided to cook the rice noodles in the broth. I thought maybe they will pick up the broth flavor vs water. Well, like I said before these rice noodles are extremely starchy. The bro
th kept getting thicker and thicker. I added extra water to thin it out a little but it was still very thick.
What I ended up with is more of a cream of Miso soup with rice noodles. So for those who like a thicker broth this is a great way to make this dish! A word of warning though as it cools it gets pretty darn thick. BUT it’s still tasty!
Take two! I boiled the rice noodles in water for around 4-5 minutes and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed.
During this time,I hadthe broth in the pot heating up. Once the rice noodles water wasrunning clear I added them to the broth for a few minutes. Perfect! As you can see in the picture the broth is much clearer and not thick at all.
I added a little green onion for flavor. If I had shiitake mushrooms I would have added them while the broth was coming to a boil and let the mushrooms cook while cooking the rice noodles.
Green onion tip of the day. A few months back I bought green onions fromTJ’s and had oneleft. I put it in a small cup of water and let the roots grow out and then I planted it in my little herb garden. The great thing about these is you can cut off the stalks and they will grow back. It’s awesome cause onions always go bad on me and I never have them when I need them, problem solved.
These two products can be used many different ways with many different dishes. Have fun! Next time I think I will add tofu to the Miso ginger broth!
