I am really excited about an opportunity from CSN Stores to review an item from their 200+ on-line stores. I can choose any item from dining room chairs to kitchen & dining items. They do have an amazing range of products to choose from. I will definitely let you know which one I decide upon. In the meantime, do head over to their website and check things out for yourself.
Now, let’s get on with today’s recipe. With all the baking I’ve been doing lately, I crave for something light and soupy. This dish is quick and easy but makes a satisfying meal. There are very few things to chop and nothing to defrost. Most of the ingredients are dried ones stored in the pantry. You can certainly make your own dashi with konbu and bonito shavings but I used hondashi for convenience.
Wakame is a seaweed that is deep green in color used in soups and salad. It has a slippery texture.
Soba in Dashi Broth
(Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 15 mins)
12 oz dried soba
4 shitake mushrooms
1 medium sized carrot, peeled and sliced thinly into rounds
1 tbsp of dried wakame
3 green onions, trimmed and sliced into 1½ inch slices
For Garnish (optional)
toasted sesame seeds
shichimi tōgarashi (seven flavor chili pepper)
kezuri-bushi (shaved bonito shavings)
For the Broth
⅓ cup shoyu
⅓ cup mirin
2 tsp hondashi
2 tsp sugar
6 cups water (including reserved mushroom soaking liquid)
salt to taste
Rinse and soak shitake mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes to soften. Remove stalk and slice cap thinly. Reserve soaking liquid. Rehydrate wakame by soaking in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes. Drain.
Bring a big pot of water to boil. Put in soba, reduce heat, and stir frequently to prevent noodles from sticking. If it looks like the water is going to boil over, add ¼ cup water to lower the temperature. Soba should be done in 5 to 6 minutes. Remove and drain. Divide soba into 4 bowls.
To make broth, bring water to boil in a medium sized pot. Reduce heat, add shoyu, mirin, hondashi, mushrooms, and carrots. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste broth and add salt if required. Add wakame and when broth comes to a boil, turn off heat. Drop in sliced green onions.
Pour broth over bowls of soba. Garnish with sesame seeds, tōgarashi, and kezuri-bushi. Serve immediately.
This is a gadget that Ro-Ri San picked up during one of his visits to Japan. Can you guess what it is used for?
Another fall “favorite”…..endless raking and gathering of leaves in the yard. Actually makes you glad when the snow finally falls.
Followed by the “bags of fall”, 21 thirty-gallon bags just for one weekend and more to come. Now you know why I have not been visiting your blogs as much as I would like to.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day!
You can also find more recipes from the Holiday Gallery or Cuisine Gallery and drop-down menus at the top of the page.
Oh Biren, Very nice presentation. I also posted Japanese cold noodle today ;D
I really don’t what’s that gadget for??? Might be something to do with grilling or putting fresh live seafood like IKA (octopus) ;DD
Hubby and I like zaru soba ad I usually make it as a side dish in the summer.
The basket is actually quite small, only 3½” x 4½”. It is for something small that is used quite a bit.
Everyone at home, but hubby, would slurp this up with gusto, then ask for seconds! Looks so appetising – I would put lots of togarashi and sesame seeds on mine and my boys would go crazy with the bonito shavings
I have no idea what that gadget/basket-y thing is for
Is it for catching crabs or lobsters??
Do all those fallen leaves get turned into compost or recycled some other way?
I like mine with togarashi too. I have a good supply of that right now as hubby bought the 300gm bags from Tokyo. Good thing sesame seeds are easily available here.
The basket is pretty small at 3½” x 4½”. Catching crab or lobster?
The leaves are turned into compost by the city. This year they made us use those smaller and expensive bio-degradable bags. These bags are about 5 times the cost of regular plastic yard waste bags. We need to cut down more trees
Never had this before…looks scrumptious!
Lovely!
I was watching a very similar recipe on a cooking show video yesterday. Maybe time for me to give this a try in my kitchen…
Dear Biren – What an explosion of flavors Biren – BTW, I am not going to even attempt to figure out what the basket is for…I am going to wait for you to educate me
I HAVE to make this for hubby soon…he would love this and sing your praise in all 4 languages (including japanese)
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Hey Devaki, I will post the answer a little later so as not to spoil the fun for my other readers.
That’s too fuuny but it is wonderful that your hubby can speak 4 languages
Looks wonderful – the dashi broth sounds super flavorful!
Looks delicious and your carrots are very pretty! No idea what the gadget is for! You have been busy, sweeping and cleaning. Good exercise, yah! But not for me, my back hurts each time I sweep my tiny little backyard!
WOW that is a lot of leaves. Did you jump through any of those piles? I’ve always wanted to do that… I haven’t had a yard in a while though, and even growing up when we had yards we didn’t get the leaves falling like that. I bet you are getting beautiful fall colors out there? The soup looks delicious, by the way. I ‘m having soba for dinner tonight too!
Hey Roxan, you can come and jump through my piles and perhaps help bag some as well. We only managed to bag the ones in the front yard. Lots and lots more in the backyard. Yes, it is quite lovely at this time but the leaves are almost done by now. Lots of sunshine right now which is great!
I love soba. Just found out about ume somen which is pink in color. Tried to google it but maybe not sold here. Have you seen it in CA?
I would love this! I normally don’t like mushrooms, but I absolutely adore shitakes so I love how the broth is made with the soaking liquid.
Hmmm, does the gadget have something to do with tea? I really have no idea. XD
I am always craving for something savory, light and soupy! Hardly crave for baked goods though…except for the occasional craving for choc. cookies for midnight supper! hee heee
I can’t wait to see what you get from CSN!
Man does that dashi look good. I love how flavorful it can be!
Hey Biren! First of all, sorry for being a-wall for a while! I’ve been so tired after the move, and it’s still not really done…
Second, this looks so wonderful. I’ve wondered about dashi before too. I’m going to have to make this…
p.s. I have no idea what purpose that tool serves;)
Hey Stella! No problems. We all have things to attend to. I have been pretty pre-occupied myself these days. I am down to only two post per week and struggling at that.
Hondashi is very convenient to have in the pantry. Would be even better if you have some konbu strips as well. Makes a quick and tasty soup base for suimono (clear soups) and miso soup.
Will reveal the purpose of that tool in my next post
Lovely dish..is that the basket for frying?? Really waiting to know what it exactly is….
I will reveal the answer in my next post
Our leaves are coming down like that. It takes a whole entire day to deal with them!
Love the noodle soup! I have no idea what that gadget is for, but it looks dangerous!
Yes, it does take the entire day and more. Looks good for an hour and then down comes more leaves…..grrrr! Leaves always look so much better in the park or at the neighbor’s yard, don’t you think?
Dangerous? ROFL! That’s too funny!
Is it for roasting barley? Toasting rice or seaweed?? Grilling baby octopi???! Washing seeds or grains?? *Arggggghhhh* I can’t stand it when I can’t figure something out!!!
Hmm….I’ll be back!
Denise, you are getting close, real close but I like the idea of baby octopi
Aren’t this gadgets fun? We will be so bad if we went to Williams Sonoma or Crates & Barrel together.
Oooh…I love soba noodles…a healthier noodles. The ones that I use is very dark in colour. I always cook it dry or sometimes with soup. Love yours. Looks very comforting and inviting. Would be great in this cold weather.
I think the darker colored ones have more buckwheat flour which is good. Unfortunately there is still wheat flour in these noodles as the gluten is required to make them into noodles, I guess. Otherwise it will be great for those on a gluten-free diet.
Cooking it dry must be like making yakisoba. I love that too especially with fish cakes. Yes, it is comforting to have the warm soup in colder weather.
Simple and yummy! Is that gadget for straining noodles???
What a warm, delicious bowl of noodles! What an interesting gadget! Is it used for grilling?
Oooh…your noodles look divine. It’s a bit chilly here right now so I would love to have a bowl of that! Noodle soup is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods, and the best part is that my kiddies love noodle soup too.
That is a lot of bags of leaves! I don’t think I would get any raking done as my kiddies would be jumping in the piles as soon as they’ve been raked. Good thing your boys are passed that stage. Oh and I have no clue what that basket-like thing is. looks like some kind of deep fryer to me, but I’m probably way off.
oh boy you really got me on the gadget is it some kind of frying gadget. But the noodle soup looks so divine. Warm and yummy perfect for the weather now.
oh boy you really got me on the gadget is it some kind of frying gadget. OK I give up what is it for? But the noodle soup looks so divine. Warm and yummy perfect for the weather now.
lovely soup my hubby loves this kind of soups I need to make them more often thanks for the feedback on the blog design, let me know when you add about page LOL
Oh this looks soooo good. It’s a dish right up my alley! Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for the recipe.
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
Ok, this is my last guess, I won’t bother you again after this – just wait for the answer like a good girl LOL I think it may be a seed or grain sprouter…
LOL! You are not giving up, are you? Answer will be out very, very soon
You are most WELCOMED here, as many times as you like.
OK, I am in tear over Denise here
I am not going to even try to guess…But this dish looks so warm and lovely…
Wow a lot of work!
And I must say, if it were me I would not be able to see out my windows…due to the 7 foot high of pilling up leaves
Denise is such a good sport
This is what makes blogging fun.
Yes, it is a lot of work, too much actually. My back hurts from the raking. It takes us half a day just for the front and sides of the yard with 4 pairs of hands. There is more to come as the leaves of the silver maples are still hanging on.
[...] on its own or served as a side dish with steamed rice. Thanks to everyone who read my previous post and participated in the little trivia. It was fun to read your guesses. I must mentioned that [...]
What in incredible amount of leaves! We just moved to a new home, and I can see leaf raking in my future.
The soup looks savory and satisfying! As usual, your pictures do the soup justice.
Your soup is exactly what I have been craving too Biren! Warming and nourishing. Delicious! Is that some kind of gadget for grilling?
OH waow! these soba noodles look awesome! and I am a great fan of wakame!
Can’t wait to see what is the use of this funny basket!!
nice article, keep the posts coming
Helpful blog, bookmarked the website with hopes to read more!