Cold Green Tea Soba Noodles
Jump to Recipe
The refreshing combination of earthy-tasting green tea-infused soba noodles and cold savoury tsuyu dipping sauce makes the perfect dish for warm summer nights. Green Tea Soba Noodles have been the Japanese’s favourite way to cool down when the sun is scorching hot.
What Are Soba Noodles?
Popular in Japanese and Korean cuisine, soba noodles are thin soft noodles that look similar to spaghetti or ramen noodles. They’re made of buckwheat which is a type of plant grown for its grain-like seeds. Surprisingly, buckwheat isn’t a type of wheat like its name implies! It is actually more closely related to rhubarb.
Since buckwheat isn’t a true cereal grain, soba noodles have benefits that regular grain noodles don’t have. Among the many benefits, they are high in soluble fibre which may help banish belly fat. Combined with green tea or matcha, the health benefits are doubled.
Cooking with Green Tea Noodles
Green tea noodles are very easy to prepare. Most packages of these noodles even come with pre-portioned bundles! Like pasta or other noodles, all you have to do is boil them in water.
These noodles taste delicious when stir-fried or in a soup. You can even use the dipping sauce from this recipe to create a broth. You can pretty much sub these green noodles in any other noodle recipe.
The hardest part of this recipe is actually making the sauce, which is an easy tsuyu sauce. Also known as mentsuyu sauce, this simple sauce is made from 4 ingredients. The traditional way of enjoying soba noodles is by eating them cold while dipping the noodles into this sauce, known as zara soba. You can also opt for store-bought tsuyu sauce as well.
You can choose to add some flavoursome toppings of your choice. In Japan, this style of soba is generally served with tempura, shredded seaweed, green onions and wasabi. Then some ice-cold tea to finish the meal and wash everything down.
In our recipe, we’ve stuck with just the noodles. Green Tea Soba Noodles are easy to pack to take on the go. They’re perfect for lunch at the office or a weekend picnic. Don’t forget to try our other recipes that are perfect for summer weather like Grilled Mackerel or Grilled Chicken Skewers.
Cold Green Tea Soba Noodles Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 oz dried green tea soba noodles
- 1 part tsuyu sauce, (recipe below)
- 1 part iced water
- 1 stalk green onion
Tsuya Sauce
- ¼ cup sake
- ½ cup mirin
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 1 cup dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
Instructions
Tsuyu Sauce:
- Start by making your dipping sauce. Add your sake to a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Let it boil for a few seconds to let the alcohol evaporate a little.
- After, add in the remaining sauce ingredients and cook everything on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Then turn off the heat and let the sauce cool completely. Strain the bonito flakes out and set the sauce aside.
Soba Noodles:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add in the dried green tea soba noodles. Make sure the noodles are completely submerged in the water and stir immediately to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Cook the noodles according to the package.
- While the noodles are cooking, get a large bowl of iced water ready.
- Once the noodles reach your desired tenderness, drain them into a sieve and immediately rinse them under cold water. This will get rid of the starch stuck to the noodles and prevent them from becoming sticky.
- Shake the sieve to drain completely and then transfer the noodles into the bowl of iced water. Set aside until the noodles and sauce are cool.
Serving:
- Drain the noodles completely and add them to your plate or lunch box container. For a pretty presentation, twirl the noodles into bundles.
- After, combine 1 part of dipping sauce and 3 parts of cold water. One serving will require 1 cup of sauce. If it's too salty, add more water. If it's diluted, add more sauce.
- Slice the green onion thinly and add to the dipping sauce.
- Any leftover sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month. Enjoy!
