Cold Soba with Butter Seared King Oyster Mushrooms
International dishesNoodlesJapan30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking
Cold soba with butter seared king oyster mushrooms is the dipping style of noodle meal: the soba is chilled in ice water so it stays firm and cool, the mushrooms are seared golden in butter, and a small bowl of lightly sour soy dipping sauce sits alongside.
The hardest part is a salty sauce, because time on the stove reduces it and turns it sharp. The sauce simmers over low heat for exactly 5 minutes, then it is tasted and taken off. The noodles boil for 4 minutes and go straight into a bowl of ice water, as any longer leaves them swollen and soft.
This batch weighs about 521g, at roughly 267 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel the onion and mince 20g of it. Trim the flowers from the garlic chives and chop the tops. Wash 150g of king oyster mushrooms, trim the ends and slice them thinly.
Heat 20ml of oil in a pan and add the minced onion with 10g of garlic chive flowers and 3g of black pepper, stirring well.
Once they are cooked, add 25ml of soy sauce, 10ml of vinegar, 30ml of wine and 9g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, stir over low heat for 5 minutes, then taste and adjust.
Heat 10ml of oil in a pan, melt 20g of butter into it and season with 2g of salt and 2g of black pepper. Once it is hot, sear the king oyster mushrooms for 3 minutes until golden on both sides.
Boil 180g of soba noodles in boiling water for 4 minutes, then lift them straight into a bowl of ice water to keep them firm.
Arrange the noodles and mushrooms on plates, serve the sauce in a separate bowl and scatter garlic chive flowers and pepper over the top.
Tips
Do not leave the sauce on the stove too long, as it thickens and turns far saltier.
Soba is sold at the Japanese counter in supermarkets, and dried buckwheat noodles work too.
Choose king oyster mushrooms with thick, bright white stems about 12 to 15cm long.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so add it with the soy sauce and vinegar at the start, and 5 minutes on the stove is enough.
Pat the mushrooms dry before they go into the butter, since wet mushrooms poach in the pan instead of coloring.
Drain the noodles thoroughly after the ice water, because leftover water thins the dipping sauce.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.