Just a couple of weeks ago, my friend Marc at No Recipes shared his udon recipe with Rasa Malaysia readers. In his guest post, Marc also shared his dashi recipe–the building block of Japanese cuisine. Finally, I knew what to do with the giant piece of kombu (dried seaweed) and dried bonito flakes in my pantry–two classic Japanese ingredients that I’d purchased from the Japanese market months ago.
I made the dashi accordingly. It was completely hassle free. And then, I made soba or Japanese buckwheat noodle soup, topped with my favorite Japanese fish cake “naruto” (don’t you just love the pink swirl?), boiled spinach, and some buna shimeji mushrooms. It was so good I slurped it dry…
It was really easy to make dashi from scratch, so effortless and the end result was well worth it. Thanks to No Recipes for his recipe (no pun intended).
Do you like soba? If you do, try out the soba recipe below. If you like Japanese recipes, you might also like this udon (kitsune udon) recipe.
Serves 2 people
Ingredients:
Soba noodles (2 rolls)
8 pieces of sliced Naruto or Japanese fishcakes
1 scallion (cut on the bias)
1 bunch spinach (lightly boiled, squeezed dry of water, and cut into 2-inch length)
1 box buna shimeji mushrooms (lightly boiled and set aside)
Dashi:
4 1/2 C water
1/4 C loosely packed kezurikatsuo (shaved bonito)
3″ piece of dried dashi kombu
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
2 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
Method:
For the dashi, bring the water to a boil in a pot. Once it boils, turn the heat down to maintain a gentle simmer (boiling makes the stock cloudy). Put the dry bonito flakes into a disposable soup bag and tie the top. Drop the satchel in the water along with the kombu. Let this steep for about 30 minutes, then discard the soup bag. Add the seasonings to make the soup base.
Boil a large pot of water and boil the soba for the length of time specified on the package. When they’re done, rinse them under cold water and set aside.
Transfer the soba into two bowls, top them with spinach, naruto, buna shimeji mushrooms. Pour the dashi broth over everything. Serve immediately. If you like an extra color and kick, you can serve the soba with shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 spice chili flakes).
Related Posts:
- Nabe (Yosenabe/Japanese Hot Pot)
- Udon Recipe (Kitsune Udon and Dashi)
- Chawanmushi Recipe (Japanese Steamed Egg Custard/茶碗蒸し)
- Yakisoba (Japanese Fried Noodles/焼きそば)
- Yakiniku Recipe (Japanese BBQ)
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Reading your blog 3a.m in the morning is not a good idea. :p You get me really crave for a bowl of noodle now! and all I have is the instant kind. :(
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Beautiful!
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Dear Bee,
I cannot find your e-mail adress on your site. Please send me a mail because I still like to order A! Best One Curry paste from you. I could not find it in Singapore.
Thanks!
Best
Bettina
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I love bonito flakes and konbu, make such flavourful broth. Your soba dish looks so healthy and delicious!
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I love the photos! The first one looks like a lovely noodle soup painting :)
Ah! Dashi demystified! Thank you! :)
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Mmmm looks good. I love Shimeji mushrooms. Your presentation is so much more interesting than mine. I need to go stock up on props:-) Also love the new look!
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Great recipe! I married into a Japanese family, and I can’t imagine a world without these flavors. Soooo good.
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You are much fancier with your soup than I am! I just use that instant dashi from the Japanese grocery store and throw in some protein, noodles and veggies. But yours looks lovely! For my weekend meal perhaps…
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Absolutely lovely stuff – great photograph too – so bright and clean.
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I love soba, and usually eat it cold in the Japanese style we learned when visiting friends there. The soup looks lovely, especiallly those fish cakes!
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I love shoba. This will be great for me!
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hey! i was wondering what camera you use for your pictures. please let me know, if you don’t mind. i think it is so smart of you to place a copyright logo of rasamalaysia on your pics so people can’t steal them anymore.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Hi Angela – I used a Canon Rebel XT DSLR. You can get the information from “Gallery” of my top navigation.
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Japanese noodle is our favourite. Now i know how to make my own daishi. Tks for sharing. Lovely presentation!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
IK – thanks. I love Japanese noodles too. It’s not greasy. Dashi is so healthy.
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I made udon soup without making the stock.OK. I promise to learn, making my own stock next time.
I don’t really like Jap fish cake – it is fake fish cake,no doubt it looks pretty.I prefer DA real fish cake! ;p
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Tiga, you have to make the stock yourself. It’s really so easy and non-greasy. So quick too and very worth it. Yes, taste-wise, Japanese fish cakes are not as tasty but they are pretty.
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Man that looks awesome…. its so mouth watering… i am a great fan of mushroom dishes… i would definitely love that….
Hey so desperate to taste this man. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I am not very sure as to whether i get this dish in Tokyo as i am on a visit to this beautiful place
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Hi, I’ve been reading your blog and I love it! I’ve tried several of your recipes and it’s fabulous! Keep up the good work!
I have a question to this recipe – whats 4 1/2 C water? 1/4C loosely packed bonito? What measurement is “C”? Do I need to blanch the Kombu before boiling with bonito? I’m trying out this noodles tomorrow evening, hope you can reply soon. Thanks!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
C means cup. No, you don’t have to blanch kombu.
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lovved replied:
thanks for quick reply. By “cup” you mean tea cup or drinking mug? In terms of grams is how much? Sorry I’m not very good at cooking.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Go to the baking store and buy measuring cups. That’s the best. I am not sure how many grams.
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