Kake soba
Buckwheat noodles in hot broth
Kake soba: buckwheat noodles in a hot soy and dashi broth, topped with nothing but spring onion
Kake soba is the bare, honest bowl served at the stand-up noodle counters inside Tokyo railway stations, slurped in a few minutes by commuters on the way home and made at home on cold nights when nobody wants to cook. Grey-brown buckwheat noodles sit in a dark, savoury broth of bonito dashi, soy sauce and mirin, with a heap of sliced spring onion on top. The broth uses mirin, a sweet rice wine; it simmers briefly so most of the alcohol cooks off, and for an alcohol-free bowl use 2 tsp sugar instead. The usual mistake is skipping the cold rinse: unrinsed soba is coated in starch, turns gummy and clouds the broth. Chef's tip: pour a ladle of the hot noodle water into each bowl while the soba cooks, then tip it out, so the warm bowls keep the broth steaming to the last mouthful.
- Total time
- 13 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- 7 oz dried soba noodles
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ tsp instant dashi powderbonito dashi
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirinor 2 tsp sugar for no alcohol
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 spring onionsthinly sliced
- ¼ tsp shichimi togarashi (optional)to sprinkle
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Bring a large pan of unsalted water to the boil for the noodles, from a kettle to save time.
3 minStep 2: In a second pan bring 3 cups water to a simmer with 1 ½ tsp instant dashi powder, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin and 1 tsp sugar. Simmer for 2 minutes, then keep it hot on the lowest heat. Taste: it should be savoury and gently sweet, saltier than you would drink as soup on its own.
3 minStep 3: Add 7 oz dried soba noodles to the boiling water, stir so the strands separate and cook for the time on the packet, usually 4–5 minutes, until tender with no hard white core when you bite one.
5 minStep 4: Drain into a sieve and rinse under cold running water, rubbing the noodles with your hands for 30 seconds until they no longer feel slippery. Dip the sieve briefly back into hot water to rewarm them.
Step 5: Divide the noodles between two warmed bowls, ladle over the hot broth and top with 2 spring onions. Sprinkle with ¼ tsp shichimi togarashi if you like heat and eat at once.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 13 g
- Carbs
- 64 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kake soba take?
- About 13 minutes in total: 3 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 2 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of soy sauce?
- Tamari, same amount (gluten free).
- What can I use instead of mirin?
- Rice vinegar with ½ tsp sugar per tbsp.
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