Yuzu-Miso Soba Noodle Soup 

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Published Feb. 25, 2025

Yuzu-Miso Soba Noodle Soup 
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim.
Total Time
25 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(93)
Comments
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Sour like lemon, bitter like grapefruit, sweet like mandarins and tangy like oranges, yuzu might be the consummate citrus — and it brings all of that complex magic to this light, clean noodle broth. Miso pairs harmoniously with yuzu, bringing savory notes to balance the tartness. Yuzu juice is sold at Japanese and Asian grocery stores (or online), but if you are not able to access it, you can substitute with lemon juice for a broth that is equally impactful. Lemon tends to be more sour than yuzu, so add the fresh juice incrementally until you achieve your desired balance. A squeeze of lemon juice and the thinly sliced lemon slices inject a further jolt of freshness to the yuzu broth, brightening yuzu’s floral and herbal flavors.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings 
  • Salt
  • 2(7-ounce) packets soba noodles
  • 5cups vegetable stock or dashi
  • 3tablespoons bottled yuzu juice (or lemon juice to taste)
  • 2tablespoons white (shiro) miso paste
  • 1(14- to 16- ounce) package extra-firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1(5-ounce) package baby spinach 
  • 2lemons, 1 halved and 1 thinly sliced
  • 2scallions, thinly sliced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

461 calories; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 86 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 1380 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook according to package instructions until just tender. Drain and run under cold water until the noodles are cool; drain again.

  2. Step 2

    In another pot, add the vegetable stock and heat on medium-high until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the yuzu juice and miso paste; stir to combine. Add the tofu and cook for 2 minutes until it is warmed through. Taste the broth and season with salt, if needed.

  3. Step 3

    Turn off heat. Add the spinach and stir gently, allowing the residual heat to wilt the leaves.

  4. Step 4

    Divide the soba among four bowls. Ladle the broth, spinach and tofu over the noodles. To serve, squeeze over some lemon juice, top with a few lemon slices and the scallions.

Ratings

4 out of 5
93 user ratings
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Comments

jeremy

This was yummy. Didn’t have yuzu juice - used a little orange juice and dash of rice vinegar instead to brighten it up. Added ginger and shallots to the broth to give a little more depth. Added more than 5 oz spinach. Not as written but was easy and tasty.

Kate

Made as written, and it was delicious.

Carri

@CD. I just got some of the Yuzu Miso paste at TJs and it’s kind of sweet. I’m not sure if it will work in this recipe put I think I will add some along with lemon juice.

Daniel

Made a version of this as part of a fridge/pantry clearing exercise As with many of you, this recipe inspired me to take another look at that awful TJ's yuzu miso paste (so sugary! Won't be buying again) Between the awful paste, and the comments on here about the recipe coming out bland, I decided I had to make an effort for this to work, and I set my zhuzh blasters to high And the result was very tasty! My very carnivorous boyfriend also liked it, and he's skeptical of tofu Here's what I did: -added a good four extra ingredients to push up the flavor. I salted the water (radically less than pasta water or something but still a fair amount), I added rice vinegar plus lemon juice for good measure (comments here inspired me for both of these--thanks), I also put in like 4 or 5 glugs of fish sauce. Forgive me, I took a good vegan recipe and made it not vegetarian. In this case though, I hate to say it but the fish sauce took it from decent to good -i made a sofrito with veggies on hand that I dumped in with the tofu at the end. In this case: garlic, ginger, a habanero (highly recommend if you like spicy), and red onion as it was the kind of onion we had. Plus at the end of the sofrito I introduced some wilted celery, which I cooked long enough to get some char on it. I had been hoping to include our old carrots but by the time I inspected them I had discovered they were so moldy they had developed sentience. When I went to throw them away, they put up a fight. They liked it here! Other than that, stuck to the recipe pretty close. I know some people get really upset with comments changing the recipe, but honestly this is one that you should approach as a canvas you can elaborate and put your own spin on

Bonnie

Made as directed after a quick stop at HMart. I didn’t find this bland. I’ll make again.

MaryHope

Super easy lunch, a bit bland

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