Toshikoshi Soba

 Toshikoshi Soba

The demand for soba, the buckwheat noodle with an ever growing fan base, skyrockets at the end of the year as most Japanese households get ready to celebrate the passing of the new year with this age old tradition. Toshikoshi soba, or passing of the year soba, reflects the Japanese love for the simple and modest, and is thought to bring good luck and fortune. The best part is that unlike osechi, the New Year's cuisine, it's easy and affordable.

Dried soba noodles are available in most Asian grocery stores or on Amazon. You can enjoy it cold (in a dipping sauce - recipe shared on the somen post) or in a warm broth. Since new year's eve is typically cold in the northern hemisphere, I'm sharing the warm version for my last post of the year.

Boiling Soba for Toshikoshi Soba

Rinsing Soba for Toshikoshi Soba

To cook the soba noodles, follow the directions on your package. Typically, you boil the noodles in an unsalted pot of water and then give it a nice rinse. The earthy buckwheat flavors of the noodles pairs so well with dashi, it's sure to warm your soul for the last day of the year.

Toshikoshi Soba (Birds Eye)

Before I sign off to clean the house to welcome the new year (another Japanese New Year's tradition), I want to thank you for following the blog this year. Starting a cooking blog has been a dream for a while and this year, I finally made it a reality. I can't wait to share more recipes with you in 2016. See you in the new year!

Toshikoshi Soba
 
Cuisine: Japanese
Author: Yukari
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 serving
Ingredients
  • 1 bundle soba noodles
  • 1 1/2 cups dashi
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp mirin
  • 3 slices kamaboko fish cakes (optional garnish)
  • 1 stalk scallion, thinly sliced (optional garnish)
  • 2 shrimp, seasoned and poached (optional garnish)
  • 2 tbsp tempura flakes (optional garnish)
  • 1 dash shichimi togarashi (optional garnish)
Instructions
  1. Cook the soba noodles according to the instructions of the package (cook 1 minute less to account for warm broth)
  2. In a small pot, heat the dashi, soy sauce and mirin and simmer for a couple of minutes
  3. Rinse the soba noodles and serve in a bowl with the warm soba broth
  4. Garnish and enjoy!
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quicker and Easier Shokupan

Image
  The  shokupan post  is without a doubt my most popular and I'm so grateful that people love it. I continue to make it on a weekly basis because our family loves toast for breakfast. Because I make it so often, I noticed that I don't always have the full 3 hours to devote to bread making. For the time constrained days, I simplify the ingredient list and use a food processor. It shaves off about 45 minutes from the original method. So I wanted to share with you the quicker version today. In fact, the food processor is a better tool for building up the gluten in shokupan. Since I don't have a dish washer and the food processor has so many parts to hand wash, I switch it up with the stand mixer when I have plenty of time to spare. If you are lucky enough to own a dishwasher, I highly recommend using the food processor. Step 1 - Measure: Before I do anything, I measure out 20g butter and cut it into small pieces so that it comes up to room temperature by the time I need it. Th
Read more

Shokupan

Image
  If you don't have 3 hours to devote to bread making and own a food processor, I've written up a quicker version  here !  EDITED (1/29/17): I've made this countless times now and have a few minor tweaks for an even fluffier bread. Main changes are upping the speed of the standmixer to 4 from 2 for more kneading, dividing the dough into 2 balls instead of 3, bench rest of 20 minutes instead of 10-15 minutes, and proofing the second round until the dough is about 4 inches in height. Also, I often skip the water roux and just add the flour and water portion into the dry and wet ingredients because 1) I'm lazy and 2) I freeze my bread once cooled and sliced so it stays fresh without the roux. I have updated the directions and recipe below for these changes.   There are countless recipes for Hokkaido milk bread on the internet, which is shokupan's sweeter cousin. It's absolutely delicious but too sweet for the daily bread. The shokupan is the true workhorse. It make
Read more

Mochi Cake

Image
  Mochi cake aka mochiko cake (餅粉ケーキ) is an amazingly simple cake that has the deliciously chewy texture of mochi. Typically in Hawaii, it's made using butter and coconut milk but I prefer the more simple version using canola oil and regular whole milk because I love spreading some jam on mine. I always keep mochiko (glutinous rice flour) in my pantry so it's an easy cake to make when I need a last minute dessert or snack to share with friends. The only item you'll need that's not a regular cake ingredient is the glutinous rice flour (explained  here  in another mochi based dessert post). They're available in most Asian supermarkets and they're usually $1 a bag. I like to keep these stashed away in my pantry because they're so useful for Japanese desserts. Also it's perfect for when you need to bake something gluten free (despite the name there's zero gluten). First, preheat the oven to 350°F. Then mix 2 eggs, 50g of sugar and 250ml (1 cup) of milk w
Read more