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.
Soba Recipe (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
Soba (Japanese Buckwheat Noodle) recipe - I made soba or Japanese buckwheat noodle soup, topped with my favorite Japanese fish cake “naruto” , boiled spinach, and some buna shimeji mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 2 rolls soba noodles
- 8 pieces 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
Instructions
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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.
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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.
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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).
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Master Hamachi
What I was looking for was how to make the actual noodles.
Jessica Sulistyo
I tried this recipe last night because I wanted to try making a homemade dashi stock, but unfortunately didn’t taste as flavorful as using Dashinomoto.
Not sure if it was because I used the local ABC kecap asin instead of Kikkoman. But to make it work I had to add some dry ebi into the stock and rice vinegar to make the taste right.
Will try to make it again with Kikkoman soy sauce and maybe it will prevent having to add the additionals into the stock :)
djamkul
after six years leaving in japan and now leaving in france, i wanted to eat soba this week :-)
bought some and searched for a recipe on the net…and guess what ?! I find myself on our good old rasamalaysia website !
thx Bee, will try this one asap !
l_faifa
I guess they don’t sell katsuobushi here in Malaysia do they? (~.~)”
guy
absolute perfection
Renea Patolot
Hello.This post was really remarkable, especially since I was looking for thoughts on this topic last Sunday.
lovved
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!
Rasa Malaysia
C means cup. No, you don’t have to blanch kombu.
lovved
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.
Rasa Malaysia
Go to the baking store and buy measuring cups. That’s the best. I am not sure how many grams.
Visit Tokyo
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
tigerfish
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
Rasa Malaysia
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.
lk
Japanese noodle is our favourite. Now i know how to make my own daishi. Tks for sharing. Lovely presentation!
Rasa Malaysia
IK – thanks. I love Japanese noodles too. It’s not greasy. Dashi is so healthy.
angela
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.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Angela – I used a Canon Rebel XT DSLR. You can get the information from “Gallery” of my top navigation.
mycookinghut
I love shoba. This will be great for me!
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
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!
matt wright
Absolutely lovely stuff – great photograph too – so bright and clean.
Laura
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…
My First Kitchen
Great recipe! I married into a Japanese family, and I can’t imagine a world without these flavors. Soooo good.
Marc @ NoRecipes
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!
joey
I love the photos! The first one looks like a lovely noodle soup painting :)
Ah! Dashi demystified! Thank you! :)
Pigpigscorner
I love bonito flakes and konbu, make such flavourful broth. Your soba dish looks so healthy and delicious!
Bettina
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
Nate
Beautiful!
Mandy
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. :(