BEAT THE HEAT WITH SOBA
CHILLED NOODLES A PERFECT HOT WEATHER SNACK
The heat and humidity the summer I lived in southern Japan was, at times, debilitating. Standing at the front of a class full of students, feeling sweat droplets trickling constantly down my back, I was always impatient for class to end so I could return to the teachers’ room where there were blissful wafts of air conditioning. At home, innumerable frigid showers, sitting in front of a fan that slowly oscillated, sending waves of lukewarm air across my face, and ice cold cans of brewed tea were my saviours. As were cold noodles. Because there was no way I was spending much time in the kitchen. And there was also no way I was going to be eating anything hot in a restaurant. (The key there, too, was to find one with air conditioning, otherwise the whole dining out experience was stiflingly hot.)
One of my favourite dishes to eat in those months was Zaru Soba — plates of chilled buckwheat noodles nestled on bamboo mats or baskets, topped with a sprinkling of green onion and nori and served with a chilled dipping sauce.
The noodles were soothingly cool and simply tasty; they weren’t overly filling, which made them an ideal summer dish.
I was looking for something similar on a recent hot day here in Calgary when I stumbled across Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Soba Noodles with Sesame Seeds.
Similar in idea, this recipe tosses together the cooked and cooled noodles with a simple sauce of soy, sesame, honey and vinegar — good for someone like me who often ends up wearing sauces in which things are dipped.
Apart from the few minutes over the stove to boil the noodles, there is nearly nothing taxing nor heat-inducing involved in putting this dish together. In fact, since they’re supposed to be made slightly in advance to let all the flavours come together, it’s easy to make them and walk away from the kitchen to cool off before eating. That is, as Lawson suggests, if one can wait.
Which, I discovered, I really couldn’t.
After taking one bite while trying to get the noodles into a bowl to photograph, I found myself eating mouthfuls straight from the serving bowl on the kitchen counter until I had to force myself to put down the chopsticks so I could take some pictures.
The sauce is fairly subtle, but enough to stand up to the stronger flavours of buckwheat soba noodles. The slices of green onions add freshness to the dish.
It’s one of those simple things that is just pleasurable to eat.
And I was lucky enough that enough of a breeze came through the windows that there was no need to sit in front of a fan to eat them.
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 six minutes (or according to package 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.
Serves 4 as part of a meal; or 2 when eating, gratifyingly, as they are.