Soba Noodles in a Basket
Ingredients
- Sauce:
- 2 1/2 cups Dashi (see recipe)
- 2/3 cup dark soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin (a Japanese cooking wine, found in specialty shops)
- 1 teaspoon evaporated cane sugar
- 1 ounce (about 3 cups) bonito flakes
- Noodles:
- 8 ounces dried buckwheat noodles
- 1/4 cup finely shredded nori (dried seaweed sheets, available in Asian markets and specialty shops)
- 5 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup grated peeled daikon
- 1 tablespoon wasabi paste
Preparation
To make the sauce: Mix the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a heavy medium saucepan and bring just to a simmer over medium-high heat.
Add the bonito flakes. Reduce the heat to low and cook without boiling until the bonito flakes have settled at the bottom of the saucepan and their flavor has permeated the sauce, about 5 minutes. Strain the sauce into a bowl.
To prepare the noodles: Boil the noodles in a large pot of boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes.
Drain in a colander then transfer the noodles to a large bowl of ice water. Let stand until the noodles are cold, about 5 minutes. Drain. Rinse the noodles under cold running water, gently rubbing them with your hands to eliminate any starch from the surface of the noodles.
Drain very well and divide the noodles among 4 bamboo basket plates, or ordinary plates, as long as the noodles are well drained.
Sprinkle the shredded nori over the noodles.
Serve the dipping sauce in individual small bowls. Place the green onions, grated daikon, and wasabi in small dishes and let each diner add them to their sauce as desired.
To eat, mix a dab of wasabi and about 1 tablespoon of the green onions and daikon into the dipping sauce. Using chopsticks, pick up some of the noodles, dip them into the sauce, and eat.
