Hot Soba Recipes

COLD SOBA NOODLES WITH DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt it. Cook noodles until tender but not mushy. Drain, and quickly rinse under cold running water until cold. Drain well.
• Combine dashi or stock, soy sauce and mirin. Taste, and add a little more soy if the flavor is not strong enough. Serve noodles with garnishes, with sauce on side for dipping (or spooning over).

HOT SOBA

Steps:

• To make the broth, combine the dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in a stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the enoki, cover, and turn off the heat. Keep warm until ready to serve.
• To assemble the dish, prepare an ice bath and place a large pot of salted water over high heat. When the water comes to a boil, add the pea pods and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pea pods and submerge in the ice water. Drain.
• Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the soba noodles, stirring with a fork or chopsticks to make sure the noodles don't stick together. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the noodles are cooked through but al dente. Drain.
• To serve, divide the noodles among 4 bowls. Top each with 1 1/4 cups broth, one-fourth of the enoki mushrooms, scallions, pea pods, and mitsuba leaves, and a pinch each of ichimi togarashi and salt.

SOBA NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oven (or a toaster oven) to 300. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In another large pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil; stir in the bonito flakes, turn off the heat and steep for 10 minutes, no more. Strain into a large bowl; discard the flakes.
• Put the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and a pinch of salt in the pot you used to make the broth; bring to a boil. Let it boil for a minute, then add the bonito stock; bring it back to a boil, and transfer 6 cups to a separate pot and keep hot. (This will be the broth for the soup; what remains is for cooking the eggs.) Toast the nori in the oven until slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. Cut into quarters and set aside. Crack the eggs into a bowl or a large measuring cup with a spout and beat until frothy.
• Cook the noodles in the boiling water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes, then drain, quickly rinse under cold running water and drain again. Put a portion of noodles into each of four soup bowls. Using a circular pouring motion, slowly stream the eggs, 1/3 at a time, into the smaller amount of boiling broth; as the first third sets, add the second; as the second sets, add the third, then turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for a minute. In the meantime ladle the stock (the one without the eggs in it) over the noodles. Use a slotted spoon to scoop a portion of the egg into each bowl, garnish with the nori and scallions and serve.