Japanese Style Noodle Soup

I found this interesting soup recipe yesterday in chron.com. The seaweed stock can be made fairly quickly compared to Western-style meat stocks. However, it's not a entirely authentic Japanese dish.

1 (10-ounce) package udon noodles
2 pieces dried konbu (seaweed) or 8 cups dashi stock
2 (10-ounce) packages spinach, stemmed, chopped
1/2 pound medium uncooked shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 cup shredded cooked chicken or pork
1/2 pound extra-firm tofu, diced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted-sesame oil
2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
4 green onions, minced

Cook the udon noodles according to package instructions. Drain; set aside. Meanwhile, bring konbu with 8 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan; reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 4 minutes; remove konbu.

Add spinach and shrimp to the stock; cook just until shrimp has turned pink, about 2 minutes. Stir in meat, tofu and reserved noodles. Cook, stirring, just until heated through. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil. Ladle into 4 soup bowls; top with egg slices and green onions.

Makes 4 servings, each 500 calories (19 percent from fat), 11 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 221 milligrams cholesterol, 56 grams carbohydrates, 43 grams protein, 922 milligrams sodium, 9 grams fiber.

Tips: In the soup recipe, the egg need not be hard-cooked; poaching an egg in the simmering stock is traditional, or you can "scramble" the egg in the hot liquid to make an egg-droplike soup. Replace the spinach with mustard greens or kale if you like; just cook longer in the stock to make sure they're tender. A Japanese beer or green tea works fine with this dish.

My Note: This is one of the few soups that I would not recommend to those with a thyroid or diabetic condition due to goitrogenic ingredients and high carbohydrates.