Since it is now summer and heating up, I have decided to do a series of posts featuring recipes to help beat the heat!
Soba is Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour. They can be served chilled with a dipping sauce, or in a hot broth as a noodle soup.
Soba Noodles with Nori
Chilled soba is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray called a zaru, garnished with bits of dried seaweed, with a dipping sauce. Soba dipping sauce is made of a mixture of dashi, soy sauce and mirin. To eat zaru soba, you pick up a small portions of noodles from the tray and dip them in the cold sauce before eating it. Wasabi and scallions are often mixed into the sauce to taste. Miso soup, a Japanese staple, goes great with this dish!
All of the ingredients can be found at your local Asian market as well as markets like Whole Foods.
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes (if you are making the dipping sauce)
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Dipping Sauce (NOTE: If you do not want to make your own sauce, it can be purchased pre-made at many local supermarkets.)
4 cups dashi
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup mirin
Soba:
1 Package of dried soba noodles
2 tbsp Wasabi
1 cup diced scallions
½ cup Dried Shredded Nori Seaweed
Miso Soup:
3 1/2 cups Dashi
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red miso paste
1/2 pound silken tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup coarsely chopped shiitake mushrooms
Miso Soup
Step 1: If you are making your own dipping sauce, combine the dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in an airtight container, shake to combine and refrigerate until cold, approximately 1 hour.
Step 2: Prepare Soba Noodle according to package instructions. They usually boil for about 6-7 minutes, but it can be less depending on the brand. Once the noodles are done, drain them, and place them in cold water with ice cubes until thoroughly chilled. Let the noodles sit while preparing the soup.
Step 3: In a medium saucepan, bring the dashi to a boil over medium high heat. Whisk in the miso paste, then add the tofu and mushrooms and bring to a simmer. Ladle the soup into bowls.
Step 4: Drain your noodles, making sure that all of the water is removed. Divide equally into four plates and sprinkle each with the shredded Nori. Pour the dipping sauce into four small bowls and garnish each with a scallion and wasabi (leave the leftover scallions and wasabi on the table so others can add more to taste). Serve with Miso Soup and Chopsticks. Enjoy!
Zaru Soba with Dipping Sauce
