Chilled Zaru Soba
Cold buckwheat noodles served on a bamboo mat with a simple dipping sauce and garnishes. Ready in under 20 minutes with just five ingredients.
- Total time
- 18 min
- Servings
- 2
- Calories
- 285
- Protein
- 9g
Ingredients
- 200 g dried buckwheat soba noodles
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
- ½ cup dashi stock (or vegetable broth)
- 2 whole scallions, green parts only
Instructions
- 1
Fill a large pot with water until it reaches 2 inches below the rim, then place it on the stove over high heat and wait until large bubbles break rapidly on the surface, about 8–10 minutes.
- 2
While the water heats, pour 0.5 cup of dashi stock into a small bowl, then add 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of mirin and stir until the sugar dissolves, about 20 seconds—this is your dipping sauce.
- 3
Slice the white and light-green parts of the scallions crosswise into thin rings about the thickness of a pencil lead, then set them aside in a small bowl.
- 4
Once the water is boiling, add all 200 g of soba noodles and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds to separate them so they cook evenly.
- 5
Let the noodles cook over high heat without stirring until they are tender but still slightly firm when you bite one, about 4–5 minutes—check at 4 minutes by lifting one noodle out with a fork and tasting it.
- 6
Drain the noodles into a fine-mesh strainer, then immediately rinse them under cold running water for 30 seconds while gently swirling them with your fingers to remove the starchy coating.
- 7
Hold the strainer over the sink and shake it gently from side to side 3–4 times to remove any remaining water clinging to the noodles.
- 8
If you have a zaru (bamboo soba mat), place it on a plate; if not, arrange the drained noodles in a mound in the center of a plate using two forks to keep them loose and airy.
- 9
Scatter the sliced scallions evenly over the top of the noodles so they cover most of the surface, then divide the dipping sauce evenly between two small bowls placed on either side of the plate.
Tools you’ll need
- large pot (5 quart or larger)
- fine-mesh strainer
- small bowl (for sauce)
- small bowl (for scallions)
- wooden spoon
- fork
- zaru (bamboo soba mat, optional)
Cook smarter
Get matched recipes for what’s in your fridge
CookSnap is a free iOS app that finds real recipes from the ingredients you already have. No more grocery-list aspirations.
