Soba noodles and tsuyu

Serves 4, vegan
This is a dish where the noodles are served cold with a dipping sauce. Tsuyu can be bought in bottles but if you have some dashi it is very simple to make. If you don't have any dashi I have developed a very tasty quick alternative miso based dipping sauce.
Tsuyu dipping sauce 500ml (2 cups) dashi 75ml (one third cup ) soy sauce 75ml (one third cup ) mirin Quick miso dipping sauce 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder 3 teaspoons miso 500ml (2 cups) hot water 75ml (one third cup ) soy sauce 75ml (one third cup ) mirin 250g pack dried soba noodles 1 sheet nori seaweed 1 bunch of spring onions wasabe to serve.	Tsuyu sauce To make this sauce make up your dashi and then simply place the ingredients in a pan and warm them together for a few minutes. Serve cold or warm if you wish. Alternatively, make the quick sauce by placing the miso and the stock in a bowl. Boil the kettle and add 500ml (2 cups) of the hot water. Stir to dissolve the miso and stock powder and then add the other ingredients. Bring a pan of hot water to the boil and add the noodles giving them an initial stir to separate them. Boil them for 4 minutes and then put the pan in the sink and run cold water over them until the water turns cold. Drain well. If you are not using them straight away drizzle a little sesame oil over them and toss them a little so the oil coats them. This will prevent them sticking when you store them. Serve the cold noodles with the dipping sauce, chopped springs onions, finely cut nori seaweed and wasabe. The idea is to simply swirl chopstickfuls of the noodles in the sauce and eat.

Close X
Miso is a salty paste made from the fermentation of soy beans, rice or barley. there are two main types white miso and red miso. The white miso tends to be much sweeter and is the one I prefer but don't worry if you don't know which one to choose (there are many varieties) all types will work fine in the recipes in this book.
Mirin is a sweetened sake with a similar taste to a sweet sherry. It is used a lot in Japanese cooking and used in many recipes in this book so it is worth seeking out a bottle. Lots of supermarkets now stock mirin and you will more than likely find it in your local Asian grocer. It can be quite expensive but no more than a good sherry.
Sesame oil isn't generally used for cooking but added as a finish to sauces. The oil should be dark brown and have a strong toasted sesame seed flavour. Use any Asian style brand. You will find it in most supermarkets.
Nori seaweed is used for wrapping around rice to create nori sushi but has many other uses. It is dry and made in a similar way to paper - but using seaweed. You will find it in large sheets in most Asian grocers. Nori seaweed is high in fibre, vitamins, protein and minerals. It provides calcium and iron and contains other important trace minerals and is traditionally eaten to strengthen the circulatory system and help lower cholesterol.
Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour. As the buckwheat doesn't contain much gluten the buckwheat is usually mixed with a quantity of wheat flour. To be called soba they have to contain at least 35% buckwheat.