Taiwan is a small island with history of colonization dated back to the 1600’s.  This beautiful island was occupied by the Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese.  As such, one can often find global culinary influence in Taiwanese cuisine.  We eat a lot of Japanese food growing up, be it ramen, soba, sushi, sashimi, udon, or rice bowls.  Here is my quick go-to recipe  during med school — soba noodle soup — that is very handy for an easy breezy lunch at home :)

Soba noodle soup with shrimp, spinach and tofu

Makes 1 serving

 Ingredients:

•  1 serving of soba noodle
  
•  2 -3 cups (depending on how much soup you want!) free range organic chicken broth
•  3 uncooked shrimps, deveined
  
•  1/3 box of tofu, cubed
•  1 cup fresh spinach
• Memmi Noodle Soup Base: if you can’t find it in your local grocery store, try an Asian market.  If no luck there, you can substitute it with soy sauce

 Steps:

•  Boil chicken broth in soup pot 
•  Place the soba noodle in boiling broth, and cook as directed on package
•  Add shrimp and cubed tofu, here I happened to have grilled tofu left-over from last night, so I used this for that extra smokiness
•  Add spinach last, as spinach cooks quickly
•  Add Memmi soup base to taste

Voila!  It takes less than 20 minutes to prep and makes for great comfort food.  You can pretty much add anything to this soup: left-over chicken, beef, etc.  I added an egg for that extra protein source to aid my recovery.  Hope you find this recipe useful!  Enjoy!