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Cold Soba Noodles

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Soba is a type of thin noodles made of buckwheat. The word also means buckwheat in Japanese. This type of noodles can be served chilled with a dipping sauce or in hot soup. You can find it in almost all restaurants in Japan.

Cold soba is a wonderful recipe for noodle lovers. It is a yummy dish for a warm day, plus it is easy to prepare. Here we used deep fried tofu, if you cannot find it in your local Asian food store, you may buy regular silken tofu and deep fry it.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 slices deep fried tofu (abura-age)

300g soba noodles

1 1/3 cup basic dashi stock

5 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon sugar

1 sheet toasted nori, cut into thin strips

4 teaspoons wasabi

2 spring onions, thinly

 

Half-fill a large saucepan with water and place it over high heat. Bring it to a boil. Add the noodles. Stir occasionally to separate the noodles. Cook it until the noodles are cooked but firm, around 5 minutes. Drain well and transfer it to colander. Rinse it with cold water. Drain it once again and then cover the colander with a damp kitchen towel. Let it cool completely.

To prepare the sauce, place the dashi stock, soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook it for 3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.  Do not let it boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pour the sauce into 4 small bowls. Stir well and add wasabi and spring onions.

Divide the noodles into 4 bowls and sprinkle each bowl with nori. Serve the noodles with dipping the sauce.

 

Photo Courtesy Of:  avlxyz

Soba Miso Soup

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This soup uses different Japanese ingredients. Miso soup is a common stock often used as a base for various dishes. Soba on the other hand is thin noodles made of buckwheat. Both of these can found in different recipes. Here is a simple one that is easy to prepare and very nutritious. You can use organic vegetables if desired.

For this recipe kombu a type of sea kelp is used. It is rich in iodine and gives the soup more flavour.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 tablespoon ginger, grated or minced

Handful of spinach leaves or watercress

1/4 cup carrot, thinly sliced

6 or 7 Shiitake mushrooms, woody stems removed and thinly sliced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 7″ piece of kombu (optional)

4 oz. extra-firm tofu (about 1/4 package), cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon miso

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 1/2 cup soba noodles

Sea salt, to taste

Green onions, chopped

Black sesame seeds (optional)

In a large pot or Dutch oven, boil water and cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse it with cold water, set it aside.

In a medium saucepan under medium low fire, heat the oil and sauté the ginger, carrots and shitake mushrooms for 3-5 minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock and water.  Add the kombu and soy sauce. Bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and discard the kombu. Stir in the miso until it is dissolved. Put the tofu and spinach into the broth. Cover and let it simmer for 5-8 minutes.

Place the noodles into the pot of hot broth. Add the sesame oil and season with salt to taste. Cover for 2 minutes.

Serve in individual bowls and garnish with green onions and black sesame seeds.

Photo Courtesy Of: little blue hen