As I was putting together a quick lunch the other day I made this simple soup, and didn’t take any pictures of the process because I assumed it wasn’t going to be a very noteworthy meal. Fortunately for me it was delicious, but unfortunately for you I don’t have any other pictures of the recipe other than the picture you see above. Regardless, I think I can still walk you through this dish without any visual help.

I lived in Hawaii for seven years, and I was lucky to learn a lot about Asian soups while I was there, and I feel that this dish accurately reflects the all-inclusive nature of Hawaiian (“local”) cuisine. This soup is a combination of many traditional dishes: I made a broth similar to Japanese shoyu ramen, but incorporated assorted Japanese fishcake from a dish called oden, and used wakame seaweed which is most commonly found in miso soup. I then used the same rice noodles used in Vietnamese pho and added fish balls, which you would find in many soups in Singapore and Malaysia.

You’ll need:
1/2 packet Shimaya Dashinomoto soup stock (MSG free)
2 cups water
1/2 cup assorted frozen fishcake
6 frozen fish balls
1/4 cup wakame seaweed
1 handful rice noodles
dash of tamari sauce

You should be able to find all of these ingredients in one quick trip to your local Asian market. Be sure to read the ingredients list on the fishcake and fish balls, because some brands will use gluten to help bind them.

Immerse the noodles in hot water and let them sit for about ten minutes. In the meantime, add the water and dashinomoto into a pot and stir until it mixes. Add the fishcake and fish balls and bring your broth to a simmer on medium heat. Just as the broth starts to simmer, add the wakame seaweed and stir it around, simmering for another 3 minutes.

Drain the noodles, place them in a deep bowl. Pour a dash of tamari sauce into the broth, then pour everything on top of the noodles. That’s it!