How was everyone’s weekend? We had tons of fun with my family Saturday and Sunday (I even had a little Valentine’s Day photo shoot with my cute parents!), then spent all of Monday trying to drive home. Between the traffic and the onset snow storm, what is normally a 4 hour drive turned into a 7.5 hour saga. But, we made it home and spent the night snuggled under blankets watching Batman (with Jack Nicholson). 
Since today is a snow day (seriously, every business in the DC area has closed down), I decided that we all needed something extra comforting to help us forget about the frigid weather outside. I actually got inspiration for this recipe from Panera’s Soba Broth Bowl commercials that have been on Hulu (I admit I am a huge Scandal fan). I haven’t tried their version yet, but I loved how they sounded and knew that I wanted to try my hand at creating something similar!
I made my version with beef, soba noodles, chicken broth, mini bok choy, enoki mushrooms, and a touch of Sriracha. The hardest part is cooking the beef (which, takes about 5-7 minutes). And after that you simply add all of the ingredients to a bowl and top with the warm broth.
Now that I think of it, this would make an awesome bring-to-work lunch option! Just pack the broth in a spill-proof container and the beef, noodles and veggies in another and heat up and combine! This way your veggies don’t get soggy by the time lunch rolls around. Which, is the worst. Amiright?
The only special trick to this broth bowl, is marinating the beef in a garlic/ginger mixture for about 20-30 minutes at room temp then searing both sides to seal in the flavor, and adding a touch of Sriracha to the broth for a kick.
Now, I want to know! How are you keeping warm this week? (If you are lucky and don’t live in a frozen tundra, send some warmth my way!)
- Soba noodles (My package came pre-portioned, but I used about 2 fist-fulls)
- 2 cups of mini bok choy
- About 8 oz. beef steak (feel free to make more or less depending on how many you're serving)
- 1 package Enoki Mushrooms
- 1 32 oz. container chicken broth
- 1 tbs. Sriracha (feel free to add more or less depending on your spice preference)
- 4 cloves minced garlic (i used a microplane)
- 1 tbs. freshly grated ginger (I used a microplane)
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the minced garlic, ginger and sesame oil and mix to combine.
- Add the beef and rub with the garlic and ginger mixture to make sure it is well coated.
- Let marinate for about 20-30 minutes.
- In the meantime, add the chicken broth and sriracha to a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400.
- To a hot pan (needs to be heat-proof, as well) set over a medium-high heat, add the beef and sear for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Once seared, remove from the stove top and place in the oven for about 4 more minutes (for a medium-rare).
- Remove from the oven and let the meat rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes.
- To the boiling chicken broth, add the soba noodles and cook according to package directions.
- Strain, (making sure to place a bowl beneath to catch the broth). And set aside. (I drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil on the noodles to make sure they didn't stick together)
- Then, cut thin strips going against the the grain.
- Add the beef, and noodles to your servings bowls then top with the Enoki mushrooms and mini bok choy!
- Serve warm.
