In this hybrid soup, which borrows elements of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese soups, Andy Baraghani simmers whole cinnamon and star anise in the tomato broth to add a light sweetness, while finely ground black pepper gives it some heat. (Any black pepper works, but we prefer this one from Diaspora Co.; it’s fruity and just a little spicy.) You may be surprised at how quickly this broth builds flavor, with massive depth from golden onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, and just a tiny bit of butter for a silky finish.
Ingredients
4 servings
2
¼
2
4
1
1½
2
1
2
3
3
4
½
Preparation
Step 1
Starting at cut end, grate tomatoes on the largest holes of a box grater into a medium bowl until all that’s left is the flattened tomato skins; discard skins. Set grated tomato aside.
Step 2
Heat vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, 5–7 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until onions are very soft and evenly golden, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add grated tomato and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add star anise, cinnamon stick, and 5 cups water; season with salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently until flavors come together, 8–10 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, cook udon according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Step 4
Add soy sauce and butter to broth and stir until butter is melted. Fish out star anise and cinnamon stick and discard. Season with more salt if needed.
Step 5
Divide noodles among bowls; ladle broth over. Add a few drops of sesame oil; scatter scallions and cilantro on top.
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Reviews (64)
Back to TopThis was delicious! Keeping in mind what other reviewers have said, I added a packet of beef bouillon to the 5 cups of water (I didn’t have any beef broth), as well as seared off a package of beef and added the fat in with the water and added the beef in at the last minute. 1 tsp of anise seed was a good substitute for the star anise.
A Francis
10/4/2022
After reading through the comments for the recipe I decided to change it up a little bit to give it some more flavor. It turned out absolutely delicious -- fragrant, flavorful, tons of umami. Below is what I ended up doing for the broth. Only 3 stars because I changed the recipe quite a bit but it turned out really well. I also sautéed some sliced shiitake mushrooms and added those after plating as well as a runny poached egg. - 2 beefsteak tomatoes - 2 white onions, thinly sliced - 1 1 in piece of ginger, sliced - 7 cloves garlic, minced - 1/8 c canola oil - 1/2 tsp ground star anise - 1 tsp cracked black peppercorns - 1 tsp ground turmeric - 2 tsp cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon - 1 tbsp beef bouillon paste - 1 tbsp fish sauce - 3 tbsp soy sauce - 3 tbsp unsalted butter Core and grate the beefsteak tomatoes. Add thinly sliced onions to medium pot on medium heat - no oil yet. Season heavily with salt. Cook down until caramelized (golden brown color but not mushy) stirring occasionally about 20-30 mins. Add canola oil, minced garlic, ginger slices, and all spices, cook for 4-5 mins, stirring frequently until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook for 1-2 mins. Add 5 cups of water and the beef bouillon paste as well as the fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and then turn heat to low and cook for 2 hours. Add soy sauce and butter and taste, season w/ salt and pepper if needed.
Anonymous
Manassas, VA
5/27/2022
This recipe was so close to being good. The idea was there, but it felt like a first try, not something that had been through multiple tests before publishing. After making it as written the first time, I tweaked it the second time to add a LOT more depth. I used ghee instead of butter, and to replace half the veg oil, used at least 2-3 times the ginger, added fish sauce, golden mountain (thai seasoning) sauce, five spice powder, 2 dried thai chilis, toasted all the spices, and like most people below, caramelized the onions. Also used canned tomatoes which was extremely helpful. Added 2T of rice vinegar in the last 5 min of cooking, and then finished with lime, fresh sambal, and some fried garlic since it still needed more umami and tart freshness to pick it up and balance it out. The second time through, it was a great meal, but it needed an awful lot of work to get there, and still could have been improved upon.
Anonymous
Chicago, IL
10/13/2021
I didn’t have many of the ingredients but it came out to be delicious I toasted turmeric pepper flakes and cinnamon and caramelized the onions for quite a while. I used a can 14 ounces of Roma tomatoes just chopped. Not having udon I used potato gnocchi and just the noodles from Ramen broken up. Fresh basil instead of cilantro. Otherwise the same and it was very flavorful.
Mary
Clemson sc
10/3/2021
After reading the mediocre reviews, I amped up the flavor and was determined to make the recipe better. I used 3 onions and caramelized them low and slow until chocolate brown. I used about 10 garlic cloves and triple the amount of ginger. I didn’t grate the tomatoes but pulsed them with an immersion blender. When I added the tomatoes in, I also added cumin seed, 5 spice, coriander, ground cumin/ginger/onion/garlic, let it bloom and then added the stock along with 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 anise star, peppercorns, bay leaves. I let it simmer for about an hour and adjusted as needed. I added 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, but only because I used more stock than the recipe called for. Thin sliced shiitakes, gojuchang (sp) and Filipino coconut vinegar were added in the last 10 mins of simmering. I topped it with sesame oil, chilli oil, scallions, cilantro, squeeze of lime and some pickled radishes and picked garlic that I made. The result was really delicious, but let’s be honest, what I did wasn’t necessarily the recipe, hence the 3 stars.
Sonjachardé
Chicago, IL
9/17/2021
I'm not a review-leaving kind of person, but this recipe has haunted me since I made it several months ago. The broth has absolutely no depth. I don't know how on earth it made it past testing because I followed the recipe to the letter and it came out absolutely inedible. Maybe find a recipe for one of the Vietnamese, Chinese, or Japanese soups that this borrowed from instead.
Anonymous
Orange, California
9/6/2021
This is a fantastic base for steamed, flaked cod. I love tomato based fish soups and I'll add this to my collection!~
Anonymous
Albuquerque, New Mexico
9/5/2021
This was great!
Annie
NYC
8/26/2021
Loved this. Like the other revieweres I also added a beef stock cube and fish sauce, and used the egg noodles I had in my cupboard. Flavour was gorgeous and I'll definitely be cooking again.
Ella
London, UK
7/20/2021
This was amazing! I used beef broth instead of water. I will be keeping this recipe on repeat.
L. Mirmesdagh
WI
4/15/2021
I've found that this is fantastic with a few tweaks. I cut the vegetable oil in half, add a couple dashes of fish sauce, throw in a bouillon cube with the water (this is key, IMO - everything is better with broth instead of water), and use fresh udon. Everything else remains as is. Especially the butter, which gives this a much-needed mouthfeel.
Anonymous
Portland, OR
3/23/2021
This was delicious and quite moreish, even when I’ve skipped a few steps and made an even faster/lazier version without the cinnamon and star anise. I did miss the star anise though!
Anonymous
Bris, Australia
3/21/2021
Mediocre at best
kjk
Vermont
3/19/2021
the taste was fine but we did not enjoy the overall texture with the sliced onions.
Cecile
3/15/2021
This one was surprisingly flavourless, we were pretty disappointed.
Adrienne
Hamilton, ON
3/14/2021