KUALA LUMPUR March 4 — Feels like it has been raining for an eternity, doesn’t it? With daily downpours, sometimes the rare glimpse of sun can feel like a miracle.

Times like these we crave exactly what we have been missing: the warm rays of sun to fill our soul... and perhaps our bellies too.

And despite all the recent fad diets and nutritional trends that demonise carbohydrates, it’s exactly these that I yearn for. The starches envelop me like a tight hug, keeping me warm and cosy.

Which is why just one source of carbs wouldn’t do. Why settle for either a hearty soup filled with chunky root vegetables or the sensual slurping of slippery noodles, when you can have both?

The way I see it, starchy vegetables have soaked up all the sun from warmer times, storing all the solar goodness for rainy days just like this past week.

Create a base of umami in your soup with dried scallops.

The colours can revive us too — the contrast of white and orange-reds of the radish and carrots, the summery hues of potatoes and pumpkin.

Even the mere act of wolfing down some noodles — be it koay teow or wantan mee, ramen or soba — can awaken our senses from their storm-soaked stupor.

Food can heal us. Just as Superman gets his powers from basking in the warmth of our sun, so can we recharge by enjoying a bowl of this "sun-filled” noodle soup this rainy weekend.

SUN-FILLED NOODLE SOUP

When using a variety of different vegetables, it helps to cut them all into roughly the same sizes and shapes to even out the cooking time.

Many of my favourite soups have aromatics such as onions and garlic but I have eschewed these here to let the sunny flavours of the vegetables shine through the soup.

White radish and carrots add a natural sweetness.

A smidgen of ginger, however, I find will bring everything together rather than be an oppressive presence on its own.

Besides the dried scallops as the flavour base of the stock and the miso paste added at the end, we get another layer of umami from using mixed mushrooms such as button, shimeji, eryngii and enoki. Some mushrooms are dried and need to be rehydrated first before adding, such as shiitake.

Typically when cooking noodles to add to soups, we would cook the noodles separately to avoid the starches that are released from making the broth cloudy. Here that starchiness is something to be desired as it thickens the hearty soup nicely.

(Of course, if your pot isn’t large enough — it’s probably easier to cook the noodles separately then drain them, even if it means more washing up later!)

I have left the choice of noodles here entirely up to your personal preference. For a lazy rainy day weekend, it might be well worth scouting around your pantry. Collect all the bits and bobs of dried noodles that aren’t enough as a single serving but together make for a fine meal.

It can feel like a surprising reward to find strands of vermicelli and udon in the same spoonful — I love the textural contrast — though not everyone might feel the same.

Potatoes and pumpkin will make your soup more substantial.

Ingredients

3 dried scallops, soaked and rehydrated

1 small white radish, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

Half a medium-sized pumpkin; peeled, seeded and cubed

1 piece of ginger, crushed

3 litres water

A large handful of mixed mushrooms (about 50g), chopped coarsely

4-6 aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouches), sliced thinly

2-3 servings noodles of choice

1 tablespoon miso paste

Salt and pepper to taste

Use a variety of different mushrooms for a balance of flavours and textures.

Method

Add the dried scallops, white radish, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin and ginger to a large pot. Fill with water, enough to cover all the ingredients. Bring to a boil.

Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Carefully remove any scum that rises to the surface using a fine-mesh skimmer.

Add the chopped mushrooms and sliced aburaage; these won’t take long to cook, just a few minutes if at all.

Next add the noodles directly to the pot of soup, cooking according to package instructions. (If using a mix of different noodles, just cook to the doneness you prefer: it’s fine that some noodles are softer than others.)

Just before the noodles are done cooking, turn off the heat. Stir in a spoonful of miso paste until well incorporated in the broth.

Check the taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Ladle into individual bowls and serve immediately.

Every hearty spoonful will awaken your senses.

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