Saturday, July 17, 2010

Japanese Recipes: Zaru Soba



During a long, hot day spent outside nothing's better than something chilled for lunch. Japanese cuisine includes several chilled summer dishes, one of my favorite of which is zaru soba, ざるそば, chilled buckwheat noodles.



They're cheap, easy to make, and even vegan-friendly if you trade the dipping sauce out for something else. I will say, however, that zaru soba can be an acquired taste, so if you're just getting into Japanese cuisine you may find this dish a little too fishy or earthy in terms of flavors.

As for where to buy everything, I found both the noodles and sauce at a local Asian market, but if your own supermarket has an Asian aisle you might find one or both there as well.

Zaru Soba Recipe

1. Boil water and add noodles, cooking for 6-7 minutes.
2. Drain with very cold water. I drain the hot water and then add a couple of handfuls of ice cubes along with the cold water and let it all sit for a minute or two, to get the noodles nice and chilled before draining.
3. Add a side cup of store-bought or homemade dipping sauce (search "zaru soba sauce" for a few different options), and top noodles with dried nori (seaweed strips), sesame seeds, etc.  Add grated ginger and wasabi to sauce if desired, and enjoy!

Health Info:

Soba Noodles
Calories: 290
Total Fat: 2% RDA
Sodium: 5% RDA
Saturated Fat, Cholesterol: 0
Carbs: 20% RDA
Ingredients: wheat flour, buckwheat, salt, water

Kikkoman Soba Tsuyu (Dipping Sauce for Noodles)
Calories: 30
Total Fat: 0
Sodium: 31% RDA
Total Carbs: 2%
Protein: 1g
Ingredients: bonito (fish) extract, mirin (rice cooking wine), water, sugar, salt, vinegar

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