Turn Your Canned Chicken Noodle Soup Into An Umami-Rich Meal With This Japanese Sauce

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We feel that even the best canned chicken noodle soup can be improved upon. A stellar representative of the species, complete with a hearty broth, meaty chicken, and plump, flavorful noodles, still lacks a certain "something" that just can't compete with homemade soup after a long simmer ... and, when it comes to lackluster canned soup, the difference couldn't be starker. Luckily, a Japanese sauce is standing by, waiting to transform your canned soup into something deep, rich, and exciting. It's called mentsuyu, and it's the best soup base you may have never heard of.

There's a difference between soy sauce and tamari, and a good soy sauce is the base of a worthy mentsuyu, which also includes notes of mirin, sake, kombu, and dried bonito flakes. You can buy it bottled — Amazon sells the Yamaki brand, which is well-liked and priced reasonably — or make it yourself by simmering all the ingredients to form a deep brown sauce that will keep for a short time in your refrigerator. 

When it comes to adding mentsuyu to your canned soup, use a modicum of restraint. The ingredients in it give it a powerful salinity that, when combined with your canned soup, can result in just too much sodium. Add just a splash at a time (you can adjust to taste and are always able to add more) or dilute your sauce in hot water before stirring it into your soup. Mentsuyu is often used as the basis of Japanese udon soups, and it adds a pleasing salty umami that meshes well with absorbent noodles of all kinds.

Turning canned soup into a worthy meal is no mean feat. Adding mentsuyu to infuse those umami flavors that hit your tastebuds like a hearty feast is a great first step, but a little extra love will go a long way towards completing the metamorphosis. Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse likes to give a generous bump of meatiness and richness to his canned soup by augmenting it with sautéed mushrooms, and we think this couldn't be a better match for your Japanese-tinged soup. Other additions that speak the same culinary language include slivered carrot, diced onion, matchstick daikon radish, and seaweed flakes. How about a generous spoonful of grated ginger for sharpness and unexpected heat? Looking to add heft to your meal? We endorse cubed tofu cooked in the simmering broth.

Transforming canned chicken noodle soup requires treating the store-bought product as a canvas, not a discrete food item of its own. Using the elements contained in a simple can, you have a pretty solid base for building layers of flavor without the hassle of making your own broth from scratch. A nice dash of mentsuyu will add a whole new depth and character that might suit you on a busy weeknight. But, if you find yourself with some extra time, patience, and resources, you can really swing for the fences when taking your chicken soup in a Japanese direction. Add as few as you want or as many elements as you wish; the results will likely be extraordinary.