Soba Noodles with Smoked Salmon and Keta

Soba Noodles with Smoked Salmon and Keta

Cold noodles are very popular through out Japan, where they are enjoyed in cafes and noodle bars. Traditionally the noodles are garnished with a little nori and are accompanied with wasabi, spring onions and a dipping sauce. This dish is just a modern twist oon the dish with the addition of smoked salmon and Keta with a light lemon sauce. The noodles make a great lunch dish or light dinner in the hot months of summer. In this recipe I use fresh Soba noodles (Japanese Buckwheat Noodles - see recipe), but of course you can use shop bought ones or somen noodles (fine wheat noodles).

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Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Noodles

  • 300g fresh soba noodles or 250g dried (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
  • 200g smoked salmon, finely sliced

Sauce

  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 100ml mirin
  • 100ml water
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 3 tsp shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)

To Serve

  • 2 nori seaweed sheets, toasted and shredded*
  • 6 small slices smoked salmon
  • 6 tsp (small) Keta
  • 6 tsp (small) wasabi
  • 3 tsp chives, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp black sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Method

  1. Noodles: Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Place the noodles in the boiling water and cook them for 2-5 minutes (cooking time will vary according to your choice of noodles eg. fresh or dried commercial noodles). When the noodles are just tender drain them and refresh them in plenty of ice cold water. Place the noodles in a bowl and toss them with the finely sliced salmon.
  2. Sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved.
  3. To Serve: Distribute the sauce evenly among 6 bowls and then place the noodles with the smoked salmon in them. Place a few pieces of the shredded nori on one corner of the noodles. Pile a slice of the smoked salmon in the centre of the noodles place a teaspoonful of the Keta on the smoked salmon. Place a small teaspoon of the wasabi on one corner of each bowl. Sprinkle the chives over the smoked salmon and scatter the sesame seeds over the noodles. Serve.
  • To toast nori sheets hold them with tongs and carefully toast them over a small flame or a hot electric element on a stove until they are crisp.