Slurpelicous Soba...

Japanese have been slurping soba for hundreds of years, both hot and cold. In the warm summer days, having it chilled is refreshing to boot! Soba is made from nutritious buckwheat flour and water, with a little wheat flour added to give the dough more elasticity. The result when properly cooked is a noodle that's toothsome, slightly nutty and insanely appetizing, well according to my family's books! It is a standard in Japanese home cooking, using dried or flash-frozen soba that's available in any Asian market here. When you're eating soba, forget everything you learned from Miss Manners- slurp out loud and proud! Mixed or plunged in soba dipping sauce- a umami-rich, sweet-savoury concentrate, slurping pulls up air into the noodles and aerates them, creating more fragrance which adds to your sensory experience and elevates the overall taste! Oishii!!!

Sebas adores soba! Here we are at Green Tea Lounge in J-Town in Toronto.

A large zaru soba display outside a Tokyo soba restaurant during my visit in 2005.

Zaru Soba (translates to basket soba as this style is typically served in a weaved basket)

Makes 4-6 servings

400 g dried soba

2 to 3 cups spinach, thoroughly washed and drained (NOTE: adding spinach is not traditionally used in soba but I thought it would be extra healthy to have some greens added)

Dressing (makes 2 cups)- leftovers can be stored in the fridge covered for three days.

1/2 cup sodium-reduced soy sauce 

2 Tbsp. mirin

1 Tbsp. sugar

1-1/4 cups water

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1/4 cup bonito flakes

For garnish: shredded nori, thinly sliced green onions, and prepared wasabi.

Dried soba is often portioned into 100-gram individual servings.

Bring water to a boil in a large skillet or pot. Blanch spinach for 10 seconds, remove from water and plunge into cold water to stop cooking. Drain well, squeeze excess liquid and chop into bite-size pieces. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a sauce pot except bonito flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the bonito flakes and let simmer for five minutes. Strain bonito with a strainer; discard, pour sauce into a bowl and let cool. 

Place the soba noodles in the same skillet of water brought back to a boil and cook for about five minutes. Swirl the noodles with chopsticks to separate them. Remove from heat; place in colander, run and rinse in running cold water. Drain the noodles well and refrigerate for ½ hour to dry and cool further. 

Test the soba for doneness by pulling one out and running it under water, before
biting into it. It should be al dente (toothsome and not chalky or mushy)

Place spinach on soba in serving bowl or platter. Serve garnishes and dipping sauce at the table for everyone to make their own.

Mix dressing with noodles in a bowl or dip soba into sauce served in dipping bowls!

Serve with fresh baby spinach leaves instead of it being cooked for a refreshing soba salad.

According to Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat's cookbook, Japanese Soul Cooking (one of my favourites), one of the Japanese innovators who originally introduced sushi to America, was said to eat soba for breakfast everyday and claims it's what keeps him healthy and vigorous. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that after I slurp a hearty bowl I feel ready to conquer the day!