Zaru Soba (Cold Soba Noodles)

Soba is the Japanese name for buckwheat and it also means the noodles made from
buckwheat flour.

Summer in Japan can be really hot and humid, and Zaru Soba was one of my favorite lunch menu when I was growing up.

Author: Namiko Chen

Serves: Serves 4

Ingredients

• 14 oz. dried Soba Noodle (I also used cha soba (green tea soba) today)

Dipping Sauce (tsuyu)

• Mentsuyu (For homemade Mentsuyu,click here.)
• Water or dashi stock to dilute

Toppings

• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• Wasabi paste
• Kizami Nori (finely shredded nori sheets)
• Shrimp Tempura (optional)
• Vegetable Tempura (optional)

Instructions

1. For dipping sauce, The dipping sauce is supposed to be a little salty because you will be "dipping" the soba noodles instead of soaking them to eat. You can always dilute it later if needed.
2. For soba noodle, boil a lot of water in a large pot. Unlike pasta, you DO NOT add salt to the water. Add dried soba noodles in the boiling water in circulate motion, separating the noodles from each other. Boil soba noodles according to the package instructions (each one is slightly different). Mine says boil 4 minutes. Once in a while stir the noodles so they don’t stick to each other. Check the tenderness and do not overcook. I do not use "sashi mizu (adding water)" technique for this noodle as it's says so on the package.*
   
3. Drain the noodles into a colander and wash the noodles in a cold running water to get rid of slimy texture. This is very important and key to great tasting noodle.
   
4. Put chopped green onions and wasabi on a small plate. Serve soba noodles on a tray or dish. Sprinkle Kizami Nori on top right before you serve.

Notes

* I learned not a long ago that "Sashi Mizu (adding water)" technique is not necessary anymore. The technique was created back then when we didn’t have gas stove, and that was the technique used in order to stop water from over spilling from the pot.

http://www.justonecookbook.com/zaru-soba-cold-soba-noodles/