JAPANESE SOBA NOODLES RECIPE RECIPES

In Japan, where it gets plenty hot in the summer, cold soba noodles, served with a dipping sauce, are a common snack or light meal. Soba are brown noodles, made from wheat and buckwheat, and the sauce is based on dashi, the omnipresent Japanese stock. You would recognize the smell of dashi in an instant, even if you have never knowingly eaten it. It's a brilliant concoction based on kelp, a seaweed and dried bonito flakes. It is also among the fastest and easiest stocks you can make, and its two main ingredients – which you can buy in any store specializing in Asian foods – keep indefinitely in your pantry. I would encourage you to try making it, though you can also use chicken stock (or instant dashi, which is sold in the same stores).

Provided by Mark Bittman

Total Time 30 minutes

Yield 2 to 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 7

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : @context http//schema.org, Calories 233, UnsaturatedFatContent 1 gram, CarbohydrateContent 46 grams, FatContent 1 gram, FiberContent 0 grams, ProteinContent 11 grams, SaturatedFatContent 0 grams, SodiumContent 1411 milligrams, SugarContent 1 gram

I love this deceptively simple dish. If you have all the ingredients, you can have a plate of delicious noodles on the table within 15 to 20 minutes, with prep included. There really isn't such a thing as a "lo mein" noodle, so don't try to find it on the shelf. You want to buy an egg noodle or pasta that's relatively thin and has some tooth. Some common names will be lo mein, chow mein, egg noodles or pancit noodles. Most markets have Japanese yaki soba noodles in the cold case, and those would work perfectly. Spaghetti or fettuccini cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water and drained in a colander will also make a great lo mein. The traditional difference between lo mein and chow mein is that lo mein is a soft noodle with some gravy, and chow mein is a crispy fried noodle tossed with or smothered in sauce. This has become very convoluted over the 200 years Chinese food has existed in America, with regional evolutions. Another tip: Although sesame oil is a fat and you would assume it should be used to start the stir-fry, I want you to treat it like a sauce. Sesame oil has incredible aroma and flavor but burns at a low temp. Add it to a sauce instead and use a high-temp oil like canola or peanut for cooking.

Provided by Jet Tila

Categories     main-dish

Total Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 12

• Ingredients