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Zaru Soba (Cold Soba Noodles)
Serves 2 · About 25 min (10 min of this is just letting the dipping sauce cool)
Dried soba noodles boiled, chilled in cold water, and dipped in homemade noodle sauce.
① Make the dipping sauce→② Cool the sauce and prep the toppings→③ Boil the soba→④ Wash and chill→⑤ Arrange on a plate
What to buy
Noodles
Vegetables
Seasonings & dry goods
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How to make it
1
Make the dipping sauce
- Put 200 ml water, 1/2 tsp dashi granules, 3 tbsp soy sauce and 3 tbsp mirin in a small pot
- Put on medium heat. When it boils, simmer on low heat for 1 minute and turn off the heat
How to tell it's doneIt bubbled all over for 1 minute and the heat is off. The sauce is a clear brown.
2
Cool the sauce. Meanwhile, cut the toppings
- Put water and half the ice in a bowl, and set the small pot from step 1 in it as is, so only the bottom is in the water (keep the water low enough that it doesn't get into the pot)
- Stir the sauce now and then as it cools
- While you wait, cut the leek on a cutting board into slices about 2 mm wide (thin rounds). Put in a small dish
- Put the wasabi in a small dish too
- When the sauce is cool, divide it into 2 cups and put them in the fridge
How to tell it's doneWhen you taste a little sauce with a spoon, it's cold.
Be carefulA small pot just off the heat has a hot handle too. Hold it with an oven mitt or a cloth.
3
Boil the soba
- Put 2 L water in a large pot and bring to a boil on high heat. Put a colander in the sink
- When big bubbles rise from the bottom of the pot, untie the bundle of soba and add it, spreading it out
- Right after adding, loosen it from the bottom with cooking chopsticks
- When it boils again, turn to medium heat so the bubbles do not rise to the edge
- Boil for the time written on the package (use a timer)
How to tell it's doneTake out 1 noodle, cool it in water, and taste it. There's no hard core in the middle.
Be carefulWhen it boils, the foam can rise to the rim all at once. Don't leave the stove while boiling. If the foam is about to boil over, lower the heat.
4
Rinse and chill in water
- Pour the soba and hot water into the colander in the sink. Steam rises, so keep your face away
- Under running tap water, wash the noodles with both hands, rubbing them, to remove the sliminess on the surface
- Put water and the rest of the ice in a bowl, and add the soba to chill
- Drain in the colander, and shake the colander up and down to drain the water well
How to tell it's doneThe soba is cold, the surface feels smooth, and your hands don't get slimy. Almost no water drips from the colander.
Be carefulWhen pouring out the boiling water, hold the pot handles firmly with both hands.
5
Arrange on a plate
- Put half the soba on each plate (or on a bamboo tray if you have one)
- If using shredded nori, put it on top
- Add as much leek and wasabi as you like to the sauce from step 2. Dip the soba in the sauce a little at a time and eat
ReadyEat right away while cold. Over time the noodles stick together.
📚 Learn more about this dish
🥬 Ingredient guide
🔪 Cutting & cooking tips
If it didn't work out
The noodles stuck together in a clumpYou didn't loosen them right after adding in step 3, or there wasn't enough water. Next time use 2 L of water and loosen from the bottom right after adding.
The noodles are slimyNot washed enough in step 4. Rub and wash again under tap water, then drain.
The noodles are too soft and breakThey boiled too long. Next time taste 1 noodle 30 seconds before the package time.
The sauce is too salty or too mildIf too salty, add water 1 tbsp at a time. If too mild, add soy sauce 1/2 tsp at a time. Taste each time either way.
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