Not that it makes much of a difference, since (why?) we’re on holiday and officially worry-free from exams. This weekend, my sister and I are the only ones left in the house; so begins our crazy marathon of baking and cooking, feasting and merry-making (no innuendos there). Not only do we deserve this because of the hard work we’ve put in, but after a “WE’VE BEEN BROKEN INTO” scare, it’s only natural to need comfort food.
Have no fear. We weren’t broken into but both the front door and the porch door were foolishly left ajar and coming home to that was a bit of a shock. What a miracle we weren’t since we don’t live on one of the safest roads in Selly Oak.
Comfort food this was with that lovely sweet sauce. It is a rather thick sauce so you don’t need much for a serving of soba. Don’t expect it to be a very green tea-ish sauce either as this is made not with sencha but with green tea cooking sprinkles. I didn’t do much with the mushrooms as shiitake on their own have a very distinctive flavour.
Right then. Hans and I have to get back to what’s cooking in the oven.
Garlic Shiitake & Gari Soba with Sweet Green Tea Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 serving buckwheat soba
- 4 medium-sized fresh Japanese shiitake mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 tbs gari (ginger pickle), for garnishing
- olive oil, for cooking
- few drops of toasted sesame seed oil
- For the sweet green tea sauce:
- 2 tbs Japanese shoyu
- 1 tsp ground almonds
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sake
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp green tea cooking sprinkles
- 2 tsp hot water
white sesame seeds, for garnishing
The noodles take about 5-7min to cook so get started on your sauce first.
Whisk all the ingredients together, except for the green tea cooking sprinkles and hot water. Then in a heavy-based saucepan, heat the mixture and stir slowly on low heat. In a small bowl, mix together the green tea sprinkles with hot water and let it sit for about a minute. Add this to the saucepan and leave it to reduce a little for 2-3min. Then cut the heat and set aside.
In a frying pan, fry the garlic till nearly golden brown. Then sautée the mushrooms. When cooked, add a few drops of sesame oil. Stir and then set aside.
When the soba is ready, drain the water and run some cold water over it to stop the cooking and keep the noodles cold. Place noodles in bowl. Place gari pickles on top, followed by garlic fried shiitake mushrooms. Drizzle about 2 tbs of sweet sauce over it and garnish with sesame seeds.