Best summer noodle fix
I hadn't had anything like this until I lived in Japan - cold noodles that you dip into a bowl and slurp? I remember I went to drink the cup of dashi and everyone laughed. (I do like to drink it a bit at the end still though...)
Cold noodles and cold soups for hot weather - so good. Hot days of my childhood did not include these things. My mum would make 'cold cut's' on a hot day which I loved - crisp iceberg lettuce wedge with mayonnaise, pickled sweet beetroot, boiled eggs, some ham and a pickle and grated or cubed cheese - even grated carrot. It was my favourite summer meal. We'd come in smelling of chlorine from the (above ground) pool - the sound of tennis on the TV and the aircon bl - and Cold Cuts on the table. That meal was also probably mum's favourite to prepare - like Baked Potato night. Easy and a favourite is not to be taken lightly.
This meal is also that easy. And a favourite. When my girls were little they loved the novelty of pulling up noodles and dipping them in a glass. We also lived in Japan with the eldest two and got the trays which made it feel extra. It got messy when they were very young I remember that.
For the tsuyu (dipping sauce):
- 1 cup dashi (kombu and bonito)
- 3 tablespoons light/white soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For serving:
- 400g dried soba noodles
- Nori strips
- Wasabi
- Finely sliced spring onions
- Grated daikon (optional)
Combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then cool completely and refrigerate until ice-cold.
Cook soba according to package directions (usually 4-5 minutes), then immediately drain and rinse under cold running water, rubbing the noodles to remove excess starch. Plunge into ice water to chill completely. Drain well.
Serve the soba on a bamboo mat if you have one - or just a plate, topped with nori strips. Pour the cold tsuyu into small individual cups. Each person adds wasabi, spring onions, and daikon to their tsuyu, then dips the noodles in with each mouthful - and slurp away!
NOTE: If you can get your hands on some Tororo or have it when you are in Japan - DO. You know I love the sticky and stringy things like Natto and Okra and .. Tororo... which is grated yamaimo (Japanese mountain yam)! It becomes incredibly sticky and gloopy when grated, with this amazing silky texture. Kind of foamy even.
It is served with both hot and cold soba, but it's particularly popular with cold soba. The dish is called tororo soba or yamakake soba ("yama" meaning mountain, "kake" meaning to pour over).
With cold dipping noodles, you can serve it two ways:
- Mixed into the tsuyu - stir the tororo right into your dipping sauce, which gives it a lovely thick, silky texture
- On top of the noodles - place a generous dollop of tororo directly on the cold soba before dipping
The tororo adds this wonderful cooling, slippery quality that's perfect for hot weather. It's also incredibly nutritious and easy to digest.
To prepare tororo: Peel the yamaimo and grate it on the finest side of your grater (or use a special ceramic grater if you have one). Some people add a tiny splash of dashi to loosen it slightly. Be careful when handling raw yamaimo - it can make your hands itchy, so some cooks wear gloves or hold it with a cloth.
You can sometimes find frozen grated yamaimo in Japanese grocers if fresh isn't available, which works perfectly well for this.
