Cold Sesame Soba Noodles

For weeks I had been eyeing this new cold noodle dish with sesame sauce from my favorite hand-pulled noodle restaurant. Because I don't go to this restaurant very often, I typically order my favorite dish since I don't know when I'll be able to have it again. But last night, I couldn't get the dish out of my mind.

Not knowing what it tasted like or even what all of the ingredients were, I improvised. In the end I made something that wasn't like the dish I envisioned at all. But what I realized is that some of my most favorite meals are usually created on a whim using ingredients that I have on hand and this is especially true for this dish.

I love the chewiness of the soba noodles, the tanginess of the vinegar and soy sauce, the warmth that the sesame oil adds, and the spiciness that the green onions add. This is great alone but even better with the various toppings you can add. I used celery, eggs, enoki mushrooms, and kamaboko. All of the different textures of the ingredients made for a party in my mouth!

I didn't make a big batch of this because I wasn't sure how it would turn out but now that I've finished it, I wish I had more. Let me know what you think of it when you try it!

Cold Sesame Soba Noodles
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 2 dinner portions or 4 appetizer portions

2 wrapped portions of soba (soba noodles are usually packaged with a thin ribbon of wax paper around each portion.)
2 TBSP of sesame seeds, toasted
2 TSP rice vinegar
4 TSP sesame oil
6 TSP soy sauce
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 lime

Toppings:
Celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Enoki mushrooms, blanched
1 Egg, whisked then cooked on low heat like a crepe
1/4 Kamaboko (steamed fish cake), thinly sliced into matchsticks
Seaweed, to garnish

Boil water in a pot, drop the soba noodles in and cook for 3 minutes. Drop the noodles into an ice bath and drain in a strainer. Set aside while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

In a bowl big enough for the noodles, whisk the vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce together. Put the soba into the bowl and lightly toss. Add the sesame seeds and green onions then squeeze the lime over the noodles. Lightly toss until all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

While the soba noodles are chilling, you can prep your toppings. One tip to get the eggs to be thinly sliced is to cook the egg into a thin crepe. Let it cool then roll the egg up like a fruit roll-up. Then slice the egg along the length of the "roll-up." You can either keep the eggs in the pinwheel shape or shake them out so that they're more like strips. You can leave the eggs and kamaboko out if it's a meatless monday kind of day.

To serve, put the noodles into a bowl, top with the toppings and garnish with a bit of seaweed.

Cold Soba Noodles With Tsuyu Dipping Sauce

90 degrees in October? Seriously?

On a night like this, i just can't slave over a hot stove or a steaming plate of...well...anything. My friend passed along a wonderful article in the SF Chronicle, a collection of vegetarian recipes and they all looked so appetizing! This recipe in particular looked super easy and perfect for this indian summer that we're having.

These noodles are so refreshing and took no time at all to make! I've never actually ordered this dish so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. I love how interactive this meal is and how I could change the taste of the noodles depending on what I dipped it in. This is a must try before summer... err... fall ends.

This recipe is adapted from Toshio Sakamaki, sushi chef at Ozumo in San Francisco.

Cold Soba Noodles With Tsuyu Dipping Sauce
3 cups dashi stock
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 (12.7-ounce) package of soba or Japanese-style buckwheat noodles
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)
Wasabi paste (optional)
1/4 cup grated daikon (optional)

To make dashi, wipe a 4-inch-square piece of kombu seaweed with a damp cloth and soak in a medium pot with 4 cups of water overnight. Remove the kombu and bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons dried bonito flakes, count 5 seconds, and turn off heat. Once the flakes have sunk to the bottom of the pan, strain out the liquid, discarding the solids. 

In a medium pot, bring dashi, mirin and soy sauce to a boil. Set aside to cool; refrigerate until chilled. 

Prepare the noodles according to package instructions, drain in a colander, then plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Return noodles to colander. Thoroughly rinse the noodles under cold water to remove excess starch. 

Divide noodles into individual portions and place on bamboo trays or regular plates. Pour some sauce into individual dipping bowls (you will likely have some sauce left over), arrange condiments on small plates, and serve with the noodles, letting everyone add condiments to the sauce to taste. Dip small amounts of the noodles into the sauce and eat. 

My kombu expanded to 3 times its original size!

My soba noodles taking an ice bath.

From left to right: dashi broth, soba noodles, green onions, and ponzu