Name: Gluten-Free Ribs and Kimchi Noodle Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 200 g dry sweet potato noodles; 1 1/2 lb pork spare ribs; 6 cup filtered water ((plus more for blanching the ribs and cooking the noodles)); 3 clove garlic, minced; 1 1/2 cup kimchi; 1 tbsp fish sauce; 1/4 - 1/3 cup miso paste; 2 - 3 tbsp Korean red pepper powder (gochugaru); 2 tbsp green onion, finely chopped; salt (to taste); ground black pepper (to taste)

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This kimchi noodle soup is incredibly tasty and nutritious. The soup base is a slow-simmered pork rib broth, flavoured with kimchi and miso paste. The ribs and kimchi noodle soup is sour, spicy and full of umami. Sweet potato noodles are naturally gluten-free, making this noodle soup a great allergy friendly meal.

Small pieces of pork spare ribs are great toppings in noodle soups of all kinds. Because spare ribs are fattier than back ribs, they are more tender, juicy and flavourful! Pork in particular pairs well with kimchi and miso (the two fermented main ingredients). All the wonderful flavours just melt together in a perfect soup base.

Fermented Ingredients in Kimchi Noodle Soup

Fermented foods not only are more nutritious, they are tastier too. The process of fermentation releases more nutrients, makes our food more digestible, and produces probiotic bacteria beneficial to our gut flora. Fermentation also gives our foods the tanginess, umami and depth that I can’t describe with words. If you want to try fermenting on your own, some of my favourites are also the best ones to start with:

For this noodles soup recipe, I want to highlight the 2 fermented ingredients, kimchi and miso, because they are the stars of the dish!

Kimchi

I used a homemade apple-fermented kimchi in the ribs and kimchi noodle soup. Because kimchi is so easy and economical to make on my own, there is very little reason to buy them. I didn’t add any sugar or rice porridge in my apple-fermented kimchi, yet it’s slightly sweet from the apple. The apple-fermented kimchi is paleo, but you don’t have to use a paleo kimchi nor a kimchi containing apple. Just use your favourite kimchi in this noodle soup.

If you want to make kimchi without the apple, I have another keto kimchi recipe using all keto ingredients and Asian chives for extra garlicky flavour. Like in this kimchi noodle soup, I love throwing my keto kimchi in a stirfry with pork belly – another classic dish with an explosive flavour from the kimchi.

Depending on the kimchi you use, whether homemade or store-bought, it will make a very subtle difference in taste to the dish you make. This is the fun part of cooking! Also keep in mind that the level of saltiness and spiciness of kimchi will vary, which affect the amount of miso and gochugaru added to the dish (see recipe below).

Miso

I used a store-bought organic red miso in this kimchi noodle soup. This is a personal preference, as I like the more assertive flavour of red miso in soups. If you come across white miso more easily in stores, you can totally use white miso instead.

Red miso has been fermented longer, therefore it has a stronger taste and umami, ideal in this hearty and rich kimchi noodle soup. White miso has been fermented for a shorter time, with a milder taste, therefore ideal in a light soup and dressings.

In this ribs and kimchi noodle soup, miso is the main source of saltiness. Red miso is saltier, so you will use slightly less of it. White miso is less salty, so you will use a little more to achieve the same level of saltiness.

Steps to Make Ribs and Kimchi Noodle Soup

The following images illustrate important steps to make this ribs and kimchi noodle soup. Note that the noodles and the soup base are cooked separately. I am sharing some important tips below for making the best ribs and kimchi noodle soup.

Cover pork ribs with cold water in a soup pot. This is to blanch the pork ribs to remove impurity. Note that it’s important to start with ribs in the cold water. If we boil the water first, and then add the ribs, the blood and impurity will not be fully released.
Next, turn on the stove to heat up the pot. You will see foams slowly float to the surface. When the pot comes to a rolling boil, the pork ribs will have released all the blood. Turn off the heat immediately.
Throw away this blanching water, and rinse all the rib pieces to wash off any foam stuck on the ribs.
Refill the pot with clean ribs and fresh filtered water. Add minced garlic. Bring the pot to a boil, and then simmer for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a separate pot, then discard the cooking water. It’s important to cook noodles separately from the soup base. Cooking noodles directly in the soup base will make the broth cloudy and starchy, which will affect the taste and clarity of the soup base.
Add kimchi, fish sauce, Korean red pepper powder (gochugaru), and miso paste to the pork rib broth.

Sweet Potato Noodles and Substitutions

I used sweet potato noodles in this dish. Sweet potato noodles are naturally gluten-free and grain-free. The light and slippery sweet potato noodles are a delightful contrast to the hearty soup base.

The recipe below makes 4 servings of the kimchi noodle soup. I used 200g of dry sweet potato noodles. Cook the sweet potato noodles according to package direction or until desired softness. A useful tip: letting the noodles continue soaking in the hot water after turning off the heat, will continue to soften the noodles. This tip works for most gluten-free noodles.

For this ribs and kimchi noodle soup, you can use any kind of noodles. Be sure to cook the noodles separately from the soup base. This is to prevent the soup base from turning cloudy and starchy from cooking the noodles directly in it.

If you can’t get sweet potato noodles, my other favourite gluten-free noodles are rice stick noodles, shirataki noodles and fern root noodles. Shirataki noodles and fern root noodles are also grain-free.

Allergy-Friendly Noodle Soup

The ribs and kimchi noodle soup with sweet potato noodles is a hearty gluten-free meal. In addition, this recipe is also nut-free, dairy-free and egg-free.

Related: More Gluten-Free Noodle Recipes You Will Love

Related: More Tasty and Nourishing Asian Soup Recipes

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