Oriental Seaweed Soup

1. 1 1/2 oz of dried wakame seaweed
2. 1 carrot shredded or coarse grated
3. 2 cloves garlic minced
4. 1 shallot fine chopped
5. 1 small piece of ginger fine grated
6. 3 Tbsp oriental rice wine vinegar
7. 3 Tbsp soy sauce
8. 2 tsp sugar
9. 1 Tbsp oriental sesame seed oil
10. 4 dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted
11. 6 to 8 cups of water or vegetable broth
12. cooked oriental noodles of choice

I always pick up something new when I shop, so this soup recipe is a combination of ingredients I researched when figuring out how to make a oriental style seaweed soup. We loved it. Cut dried seaweed into manageable pieces as they are quite long. Soak in water about 5 minutes or softened. Rinse well and squeeze out excess moisture from seaweed. In a soup pot place the ginger, carrots, garlic and shallot with vinegar, soy sauce , sesame and sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat just to soften ingredients. Add the water or broth, enough to cover by a few inches,add reconstituted dried mushrooms and seaweed and bring to a boil and then simmer about 10 minutes. Correct seasonings if desired. To serve: add noodles to bowl and ladle in some of the seaweed soup. No extra salt is added as the seaweed and soy sauce have enough to flavor soup. Yield : 6 to 8 servings.