Gambas Mori Soba (Chilled Buckwheat Noodles with Gambas)

Gambas Mori Soba

I learnt how to make Zaru Cha Soba in a Japanese cooking class in Singapore a few years ago, but have stopped eating buckwheat noodles because it supposedly doesn't go with my blood type. But I still have a packet of soba in my WW3 food stock and I've decided today to make an exception since I had a craving for it.

Besides, spring is almost here (the Teenager starts his weekly golf training today) and it'll soon be time to entertain again. I am trying to relook a few old recipes so that I may not need to work too hard on new ones. This morning I made Mori Soba - a basic dish of chilled buckwheat noodles. You usually serve it on a bamboo basket topped with strips of seaweed (which I dislike) and sesame seeds, accompanied by a cold soy sauce-based dipping sauce. Wasabi and finely-chopped spring onions are mixed into the sauce before serving.

I prepared Gambas in 2 different ways to go with my Mori Soba : 1) Ginger and Spring Onions and 2) Garlic and Chilli.

This is like Japan meets China and Spain. Very nice.

Mori Soba

Mori Soba (serves 4) :

200g dried Soba

1/4 cup toasted Seaweed (shredded)

4 tbsp toasted Sesame seeds

3 cups men-tsuyu

Men-tsuyu :

500ml Dashi

100ml Shoyu

100ml Mirin

A handful of Bonito flakes (optional)

1 Tsp Wasabi and 4 Tbsp Spring Onions (finely chopped) for garnishing

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the dried soba and cook it for 7-8 minutes. Drain the water and rinse the noodles under running cold water. Plunge it into a bowl of cold water to chill the noodles.

Drain, divide into 4 portions and place them on separate serving plates or baskets. Sprinkle seaweed and sesame seeds over the noodles.

The men-tsuyu dipping sauce should have been prepared in advance and chilled. Just mix the dashi, mirin and shoyu in a pot and bring it to a boil. Stir in the bonito flakes and remove from the heat. Strain and allow the sauce to cool before refrigerating it.

Serve the dipping sauce in a small bowl with the chilled soba.

To eat, mix a dab of wasabi and spring onions into the dipping sauce. Dip noodles into the sauce and eat.

Gambas with Ginger and Spring Onions

The Gambas with Ginger and Spring Onions were fast and easy to make. The gambas were stir-fried with finely-julienned fresh ginger, a little sesame oil, light soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, salt and pepper. At the last minute, the julienned spring onions were added.

Gambas al Pil Pil

The Gambas al Pil Pil are made with thinly-sliced garlic and Thai chillies sauteed in olive oil. A little white wine or dry Sherry is added together with a few Szechuan peppercorns and salt.

I made small portions of gambas-topped chilled soba and served them on a plate.