Champaka provides us with a delicious macrobiotic recipe for Japanese Noodle Soup. Most of the ingredients can be found at your local health food shop.
After a soaking time of 2-3 hours, the actual prep time for this meal is approximately 20 minutes. This recipe serves 2 people.
Soba is the Japanese word for buckwheat, a grain which is highly nutritious and is also excellent for supporting healthy intestines.
Step 1
Kombu seaweed (1 piece) placed in a pot with 0.7 litres of water and soak this for minimum 2 hours
1 Shitake mushroom can be added to the Kombu to soak, if wanted.
Step 2
Bring water to a boil, then remove shitake and Kombu.
Add organic soy sauce to create a good tasting broth. It should have a rather salty taste.
Keep the broth simmering on low and go to next step:
Step 3
Chop ½ leek into small pieces. Use the white part of the leek.
Option: can prepare 2 handfuls of spinach by steaming and then chopping.
Peel and then finely grate 5 centimetres of long white radish
Option: finely grate a little fresh ginger
Step 4
Bring a big pot of plain hot water to a boil and add a little salt to it.
Put 1 packet of soba noodles into the pot. Stir right away so the noodles don’t stick together. Keep stirring occasionally. Follow directions on the noodle packet as to how long to cook them. And, it is important to keep checking the noodles, so they don’t get too soft. It depends on the thickness of the noodles how long they will take. They need to boil approximately 8—12 minutes. As the noodles cook, the water will become thicker. This means it is time to stop cooking them.
Note: As the noodles are cooking, you can place 4 pieces of Mochi to roast in a toaster oven or normal oven (Mochi is sticky rice prepared in a special way). As they roast, they will turn golden brown on top and puff up in a very tantalizing way. This takes about 5—7 minutes.
Strain the noodles (but keep the water they have cooked in to use as the broth for another soup you may like to make the next day.)
Step 5
Next, put the hot noodles immediately into the prepared broth and stir. Divide the noodles and broth in half, and put into two large Chinese style soup bowls. Then, add the topping of leek, spinach, radish and ginger.
Put two pieces of roasted mochi into each steaming bowl of soup and serve the soup immediately.
Note: It is very important with this noodle dish to serve it while it is piping hot, just after you add the topping, so the noodles don’t get too soft and mushy.
If you want to eat the soba soup in true Japanese style, they should be enjoyed with a lot of slurping sounds. This lets the cook know that they have indeed served the noodles while they are fresh and hot. If a person eating noodle soup does not slurp in Japan, this is very insulting as it is a clear message that the noodles were not hot enough.
Etadakimas! This is said before eating Japanese food. It means, “We receive this gift of God with gratitude.”
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