Zaru Soba – Cold with Vegan Mentsuyu
The perfect summer dish — cold buckwheat noodles with a chilled dipping sauce, eaten slowly and deliberately.
Ingredients
| 225 g | dried soba noodles | |
| 240 ml | combined kombu and shiitake dashi | |
| 3 tbsp | 45 ml | soy sauce |
| 2 tbsp | 30 ml | mirin |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | sugar |
| 2 | scallions, finely sliced | |
| 1 tbsp | 15 ml | wasabi paste (optional) |
| 1 sheet | nori, cut into thin strips | |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | toasted sesame seeds |
Instructions
- Make the mentsuyu: combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Cool completely, then refrigerate until cold.
- Cook the soba noodles according to package instructions. Be careful not to overcook — they should be just tender with a slight bite.
- Drain and rinse immediately under cold running water, rubbing the noodles between your hands to wash off excess starch. Drain thoroughly.
- Arrange the cold noodles on a bamboo tray or plate.
- Pour the cold mentsuyu into individual dipping bowls.
- Serve with scallions, wasabi, nori, and sesame seeds on the side for mixing into the dipping sauce.