Wasabi Soba Noodles
This is a quick and easy recipe for wasabi soba noodles (わさびそば). The wasabi gives the soba (そば buckwheat noodle) a pleasant and non-lingering hot kick to awaken the senses >0< This dish can be enjoyed on its own as a meatless meal, or paired with protein (chicken, prawns, salmon, tempeh, tofu) or added to a salad bowl. The soba sauce and vegetables are also non-cooking, making this a truly fuss-free recipe.
More Soba Recipes:
The wasabi paste tubes above are from Daiso. You can also buy them at supermarkets, or use the leftover wasabi sachets from taking-out sushi. Every brand of wasabi paste has different potency, so adjust the amount used accordingly.
The main ingredients of this dish are carrot, cucumber, wasabi paste and soba noodles. I’m using ‘cha soba’ (green tea buckwheat noodles) due to its attractive wasabi-like pale green tone, since the wasabi sauce (see picture below) is brown not green. You can use the normal brown soba or other noodles to substitute.
Make the sauce by whisking all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until it is smooth. The base sauce is made up of tahini which is pure sesame paste (can substitute with Japanese goma sauce), soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic, ginger juice & of course, wasabi paste. Add the wasabi paste a little at a time, to taste, until you get a mild and pleasant wasabi kick. Adding too much wasabi will give an intense short burst of eye-searing & nose-clearing ‘shock’ with every bite :P
Affliate Link: Tahini Sauce from iHerb
Add the noodles and rest of the ingredients to your bowl of wasabi sauce …
… and toss to coat everything evenly.
Enjoy!~
Wasabi Soba Noodles Recipe
You can substitute wasabi paste with mustard (to taste), and soba with any long pasta noodles.
Check out more photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 1 bundle (about 80 grams) dried cha soba (green tea buckwheat noodles 茶そば)
- 1 tsp sea salt for cooking soba
- 1/2 cup shredded cucumber use a zig-zag peeler
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot use a zig-zag peeler
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds (black/white)
- 1 tsp chopped spring onions for garnish
(A) Wasabi Sauce
- 1 tsp wasabi paste to taste
- 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tahini [or Japanese goma (roasted sesame) sauce]
- 1/4 tsp clear or apple cider vinegar skip if using goma sauce; to taste
- 1/2 tsp ginger juice
- 1 garlic clove minced
Directions:
- Cook the soba. Add 1 tsp salt to a pot of water. Bring to boil, and then add soba. Cook according to timing indicated on packaging (minus about a minute for al dente). Set aside half cup of soba cooking water. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
- Make wasabi sauce. Combine wasabi sauce ingredients at (A) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk (or stir vigorously with a spatula) to combine into a smooth paste. Taste test the sauce. Add more wasabi (a small amount at a time) & vinegar (1/4 tsp at a time) to taste.
- Toss the noodles & serve. Add cooked soba to the wasabi sauce, followed by cucumber, carrot and sesame seeds. Toss to coat everything evenly, adding 1 or more tsp soba cooking water to bind the contents together if too dry. Transfer to serving plates and garnish with spring onions.