I’ve had a real Japanese cooking phase. I was all about authentic Japanese recipes -I’m talking yakitoris, miso salmon, onigiri, the real deal- and I scrolled online to find the most delicious ones.

That’s when I found out about soba noodles. How could I have missed them ? Men, these noodles are delicious. They’re made out of buckwheat flour, and really have a taste and texture of their own. They have this delicate nutty aroma, with a taste that reminds me of sesame. I adore the texture : smooth, slighlty chewy yet quite firm. They’re good for your health, too !

With their grainy texture and their slight bite, these noodles are perfect for salads. I respected the traditional basis for this salad’s dressing, which shoud revolve around sesame, but I wanted to craft a Japanese dressing recipe with zingy, fresh flavours, to make for the perfect summery soba salad. That’s why I used my wasabi and ginger friends, for a small spicy kick, and some rice vinegar and lime for the tang.

I was very happy with the end result, and it made for a nice change from our classic Western salads, with lots of textures -the chewiness from the soba, the crunch from the carrots and cucumbers- and a real depth of taste with sesame combined to tangier flavours. Love it ! I know you will, too !

Veggie Soba Noodle Salad – Recipe

Ingredients – Where to find them

The most necessary ingredients for this dish are basic Asian pantry items (soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, wasabi). You should be able to find those in traditional grocery stores, without needing to visit an Asian one.

Ingredients – Advice & key points

• You will find Soba noodles at an Asian store, or online. You might find 2 types of soba noodles :
  • Ju-wari Soba is made of 100% buckwheat flour. It is said to have a strong buckwheat flavour, but those are the ones I’ve always used (without knowing), and trust me : the flavour is definitely not overwhelming, I still find it quite mild.
  • Hachi-wari Soba is made from 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. If you’re worried about disliking the buckwheat aroma, you can still pick this one !
• Careful, you must not overcook the soba noodles to get this nice bite and slight chewiness. Respect the packaging instructions ! It is also important to rinse thoroughly the soba noodles right after they’re done, to remove the excess starch. It will prevent the noodles from sticking together.
• You will find Edamames at Asian stores in the frozen section. If you don’t, simply skip it !
• This recipe is versatile ! Feel free to remove or replace some ingredients. The ones I find best suited for this recipe are the following :
  • raw or pickled red cabbage,
  • bell pepper,
  • green or red chili pepper,
  • white or red onions,
  • tomatoes,
  • arugula,.
• If you’re not a vegetarian, the salad would also work well with shredded chicken.
• I recommend serving this dish freshly out from the fridge, if possible !

All set ? Let’s make this Soba Salad !

Print Recipe

Veggie Soba Noodle Salad

Author: Multicarbs Cuisine: Japanese cuisine Courses: Main dish, Salad Recipe Keys: Sans Gluten Sans maïs Sans œufs V Vegetarian

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 30 min Cook Time 5 min Total Time 35 mins

Servings: 3

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Description

A fresh, zingy salad, with a magic wasabi-sesame-lime vinaigrette that will give you a wake up call.

Ingredients

Servings

For the salad

• 3 soba bundles (~70 to 100g per bundle usually)
• 1 carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cucumber
• 100 grams edamame
• 12 radishes
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 2 scallions (chopped)
• 2 handfuls of cilantro (chopped)

For the Sauce

• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ginger (minced)
• 1 teaspoon wasabi paste (usually horseradish paste)
• 2,5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons mirin

Instructions

1. Prep your ingredients

   Half-fill a small pot with water for your edamames (or thaw them in the fridge overnight ; see package instructions). Put in on medium-high heat.

   Cut your carrot and cucumber into matchsticks.

   Thinly slice your radishes. 

   Cook your edamames a few minutes (see package), then drain them. Shell them. 

   Chop your scallions and cilantro.

   Add everything to a large mixing bowl.

   Mince your ginger and set aside.

   Frozen edamames can be fully cooked or partially cooked ; that's why we need to check the package instructions to know how to prep them.

2. Vinaigrette & soba time

   Half-fill a medium pot with rice and put it on medium-high heat.

   Prep the vinaigrette by mixing all the ingredients together. Start with the wasabi, that you will dilute with soy sauce. 

   Cook your soba noodles (see package instructions for the time, usually 3-4mn). 

   Thoroughly rinse your soba noodles under cold water. Drain them.   

3. Assemble !

   To the mixing bowl containing your chopped veggies, add your soba noodles, then your vinaigrette. 

   Mix together. 

   Serve onto plates with sesame seeds on top. 

   Et voilà !! You're done ! 

Keywords: home made, soba salad, soba noodles, salad, wasabi, sesame, lime, fresh, healthy, soy sauce