Soba Noodles With Sesame Seeds
by Nigella. Featured in NIGELLA SUMMERIntroduction
I love the Japanese way of eating cold noodles: I just lift a bowl to my face, fork furiously and slurp. If you want to make these part of a meal, then know that they go wonderfully well with salmon: just get some fillets, sear them in a hot pan, leaving the interior fleshily coral. But I love eating these as they are, in huge quantities and — preferably — alone. Because they're served cold, you can profitably keep leftovers for midnight fridge-raiding later. Boxed into foil containers, they are the perfect, if unconventional, food to take along for a picnic.
And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
I love the Japanese way of eating cold noodles: I just lift a bowl to my face, fork furiously and slurp. If you want to make these part of a meal, then know that they go wonderfully well with salmon: just get some fillets, sear them in a hot pan, leaving the interior fleshily coral. But I love eating these as they are, in huge quantities and — preferably — alone. Because they're served cold, you can profitably keep leftovers for midnight fridge-raiding later. Boxed into foil containers, they are the perfect, if unconventional, food to take along for a picnic.
And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 4 as part of a meal
- 75 grams sesame seeds
- salt
- 250 grams soba noodles
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- 5 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 5 spring onions
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- salt
- 8 ounces soba noodles
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- 5 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons asian sesame oil
- 5 scallions
Method
- Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over a high heat until they look golden brown, and tip them into a bowl.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add some salt. Put in the soba noodles and cook them for about 6 minutes (or according to packet instructions) until they are tender but not mushy. Have a bowl of iced water waiting to plunge them into after draining.
- In the bowl you are going to serve them in, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, honey and oil. Then finely slice the spring onions and put them into the bowl with the cooled, drained noodles and mix together thoroughly before adding the sesame seeds and tossing again.
- Leave the sesame seed noodles for about half an hour to let the flavours develop, although this is not absolutely necessary or sometimes even possible.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over a high heat until they look golden brown, and tip them into a bowl.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add some salt. Put in the soba noodles and cook them for about 6 minutes (or according to packet instructions) until they are tender but not mushy. Have a bowl of iced water waiting to plunge them into after draining.
- In the bowl you are going to serve them in, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, honey and oil. Then finely slice the scallions and put them into the bowl with the cooled, drained noodles and mix together thoroughly before adding the sesame seeds and tossing again.
- Leave the sesame seed noodles for about half an hour to let the flavours develop, although this is not absolutely necessary or sometimes even possible.
Additional Information
For gluten free check that the soba noodles are 100% buckwheat and use tamari instead of soy sauce.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
Will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
For gluten free check that the soba noodles are 100% buckwheat and use tamari instead of soy sauce.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
Will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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What 4 Others have said
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Show more commentsThis recipe is ideal on hot days. It takes barely 10 minutes to make it, and you just stash it in the fridge until you need a light, refreshing meal that’s full of flavor. A winner anytime, but a life saver in the heat!
I didn't have soba noodles so tried it with brown rice noodles, still delicious! Also didn't have enough sesame seeds, but found a mixed pack (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and linseed) in my cupboard, toasted and added to the noodles.... nom nom :)
I knew some East Asians eat buckwheat noodles cold and tried to make them without even bothering to look online for guidance as an experiment... I was actually pretty close to this recipe. Rice wine vinegar, soy sauce... but I added brown sugar instead of honey and also a little lemon juice and sesame oil and added some white pepper & ginger to the sauce. You can get fairly creative playing with flavors. Regardless it's good source of fiber and a delicious treat. I wish I could find matcha buckwheat noodles just so it's even more healthy. Maybe I'd have to order those online though.
I've been dreaming of this recipe for quite a while, perhaps a couple of years actually 'cos in Veneto it is practically impossible to find soba noodles, today finally i found them but they were not the pure buckwheat noodles but wheat and buckwheat ones made in china, unfortunally not the top notch, but i was ecstatic that i even managed to get these, of course i couldn't expect to find te-uchi.. I followed the recipe by letter except for the amount of the sesame seeds: 75gr seemed excessive to me to this quantity of noodles so i cut it down to some 15-ish or a bit more gr, well, it's been wonderful, yummy, lovely, superb! It's a wonderful dish, i guess in summertime off the fridge it must be a delight, i let it stand for more than three quarters of an hour before tasting, i love it!