Weekend Cookbook Challenge #7

This month's Weekend Cookbook Challenge hosted by Sara certainly had me thinking. It's theme was Lucky Number Seven and we could interpret that as liked.

What could I do - recipes with seven ingredients, recipes from the seventh cookbook on the shelf, on the seventh page? None of those seemed to inspire me but a look at the mantelpiece and there it was - luck was staring back at me in the form of my Maneki-Neko or Japanese lucky cat.



Of course, I should do something Japanese - it seemed quite fitting considering the recent bent of my cooking. The number seven is regarded as lucky in Japanese culture - especially in the form of Shichifukujin or the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan.

When it comes to lucky food, it's Soba Noodles, the longer the better and when eaten without breaking they are said to bring long life.

This recipe comes from "Japanese Food and Cooking" by Emi Kazuko and is one of the most popular ways to serve Soba and how you eat this dish will be explained at the end of this post.



Green Tea Soba Noodles with dipping sauce

Dipping Sauce:
2 cups Dashi
½ cup Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce)
½ cup Mirin

1 bundle Green Tea Soba Noodles
1 tablespoon Sesame seeds
2 spring onions, sliced at an angle
Pickled Ginger, to serve
Grated Daikon, to serve
Wasabi Paste, to serve
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese Seven Spice Powder)

To make the dipping sauce:
Place the dashi, shoyu and mirin in a small saucepan - bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and cook for a further 2 minutes. Cool, then chill.

Instead of using plain Soba noodles I've opted for the Green Tea version just because I quite like their subtle green tinge.



As noodles do vary it's best to cook them according to the directions on the packet - when cooked, drain then run them under cold water to cool.

To assemble the dish:
Place the cold dipping sauce into two small bowls.
Place the soba into a bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds - mix well then divide onto two serving plates. Sprinkle with the sliced spring onions and Shichimi Togarashi.
Garnish each dish with Pickled Ginger, Wasabi and Grated fresh Daikon.



To eat:
Hold the dipping sauce bowl in one hand. Using chopsticks, pick up a mouthful of noodles and dip the end into the dipping sauce, then slurp the noodles in with your lips.

You can mix in the garnish to suit your taste.

Tagged with Weekend Cookbook Challenge : WCC