Chilled Zaru Soba with Homemade Tsuyu

⏱ 25 min · Serves 2

Ice-cold buckwheat noodles on a bamboo mat, dunked into a savoury-sweet dashi dipping sauce with sharp spring onion and a whisper of wasabi. Ten minutes of cooking, and the most refreshing thing you'll eat all summer.

Per serving: 455 kcal · 18.0g protein · 85.0g carbs · 3.5g fat

Ingredients

• 200g dried soba noodles
• 300ml water
• 10g dried kombu (1 postcard-sized piece)
• 8g bonito flakes (katsuobushi), about 2 large handfuls
• 60ml soy sauce
• 60ml mirin
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 spring onions, very finely sliced
• 1 tsp wasabi paste
• 1 sheet nori, snipped into fine shreds
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
• Plenty of ice cubes

Method

1. Put the water and kombu in a small pan and leave to soak for 10 minutes, then bring slowly to just below a simmer. Remove the kombu as soon as bubbles appear at the edges.
2. Add the bonito flakes, take off the heat and let them steep for 3 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve without pressing. You now have dashi.
3. Return the dashi to the pan with the soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer for 1 minute to burn off the alcohol, then cool completely — set the pan in a bowl of iced water to speed it up. Chill until cold.
4. Soak the sliced spring onion in cold water for 5 minutes to take off the raw bite, then drain well.
5. Bring a large pan of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Cook the soba for the time on the packet (usually 4–5 minutes), stirring at the start so they don't clump.
6. Drain and immediately rinse the noodles under cold running water, rubbing them gently with your hands to wash off the surface starch — this is what gives soba its clean, springy bite. Finish in a bowl of iced water, then drain thoroughly.
7. Pile the noodles onto two bamboo mats (zaru) or shallow plates and scatter with shredded nori and sesame seeds.
8. Pour the cold tsuyu into two small cups and serve the spring onion and wasabi alongside. Stir the condiments into your cup, dip a mouthful of noodles and slurp.