Original recipe by Cookingwiththehamster (video)
Zaru soba (ざるそば) is a Japanese dish especially appreciated during the hot summer season.
It consists of buckwheat noodles eaten dipped in a flavorful cold broth called mentsuyu ("noodle sauce") seasoned to taste with wasabi, ginger, daikon, and spring onion. The word zaru refers instead to the bamboo basket in which the noodles are served.
The recipe is for two people.
INGREDIENTS
250 g of soba
peeled and grated daikon
peeled and grated ginger
1/4 of nori seaweed cut into thin strips
finely chopped spring onion (green part only)
wasabi to taste
INGREDIENTS FOR THE MENTSUYU
200 ml water
100 ml soy sauce
75 ml mirin
1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of katsuobushi
1 piece of kombu seaweed
PREPARATION
- Start by preparing the mentsuyu: combine all the ingredients in a pot and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain with a sieve into the appropriate ceramic bowl.
- Cook the soba following the package instructions. Drain and immediately cool with very cold water, stirring the noodles with your hands to remove the starch. Drain well.
- Arrange the soba on the zaru and garnish with strips of nori seaweed.
- Prepare a small plate with condiments: daikon, ginger, spring onion, wasabi. Season the cold broth with these ingredients to taste, dip the soba little by little and eat it.
