Sparerib Soup with Okinawan Soba

When I got home from work today, I could hear Wendell yelling from the kitchen, "Welcome home dearest!"  Okay, maybe he didn't say that.  Maybe he said, "Come here." I went into the kitchen to see Wendell dressed in his softball uniform, looking like he was all ready to leave.  He added, "This is what you gotta do for tonight's dinner.  Take this noodles and throw it in boiling water for just a minute.  Put the noodles in your bowl, add this soup and then garnish with this ginger and green onions."  "K, gotta go."   So romantic yah! 

He got the recipe from yesterday's Honolulu Star-Advertiser.  It was really ono, but I did add a little more shoyu to my portion.


2 to 3 pounds spareribs, cut into 2-inch lengths
6 cups dashi
1 inch ginger, crushed
1 tbs. shoyu
Salt
1 bunch choi sum
4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 to 2 carrots
1 14-ounce packages Sun Noodle Okinawan soba
Pickled red ginger

Cover spareribs with water and bring to a rolling boil.  Drain and rinse pork.  Cut ribs into sections.

Combine dashi, ginger, shoyu, pinch of salt and ribs. Bring to simmer, and cook until spareribs are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Taste broth for seasoning, adding more salt and shoyu if necessary.

Cut choi sum into 3-inch lengths, shiitake in halves and carrots into julienne strips.  Add vegetables to spareribs and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.

Meanwhile, bring pot of water to boil, add soba noodles and cook 1 minute.

Drain and divide into bowls.  Top with spareribs, vegetables and broth. Garnish with pickled ginger. Serves 4.