I had some leftover vegetarian Chap Chye from Sunday’s dinner that I wanted to recycle for next day’s lunch.  The heavy downpour in the morning had allowed the temperature to dip just enough for one to have a craving for something hot and soupy.  So I added water to the leftover and a very flavorful instant broth for soba emerged.

Fermented beans, a close relative of miso, is a key seasoning ingredient in nonya chap chye and that why the broth turned out tasting similar to Japanese miso soup.  You can still add some Japanese miso paste if you find it not salty enough after watering down chap chye.

My Chap Chye is already filled with assorted mushrooms, black fungus, burdock and lily bulbs that I picked out from the heap of bean curd sticks and cabbage to make the soup broth.  I left out the last two ubiquitous chap chye ingredients as I did not want my lunch to look like a sloppy effort, though to a certain extent, adding water and noodles to an overnight stew does sound like it!

MISO SOBA WITH LEFTOVER CHAP CHYE

Leftover Chap Chye
Some water
Soba
Japanese miso, optional

METHOD

01. Cook soba according to package instruction, set aside in serving bowl.

02. In a pot, mix chap chye and enough water to make a serving of soba broth.

03. Do a taste test and add some miso paste if it is not tasty enough. I topped my soba with half a teaspoon of miso paste upon serving.

04. Pour the soup over the cooked soba and sprinkle some nori seaweed strips as garnish.