Cold Soba Noodles with Sides

Time for another Tuesday Night Vego Challenge!


I've been cooking a lot of Japanese food lately. I'm really learning to appreciate how the different sorts of flavours work together. It's also a great source of ideas for vegetarian meals. Unfortunately this one took longer than 30 minutes to cook, although dealing with a fussy toddler didn't help things. The eggs keep well in the fridge, so you can make a bunch of them on the weekend and eat them during the week. They are DELICIOUS!

In Japan, soba noodles are often eaten cold in summer. As in ice cold, and often garnished with ice cubes! They're served with a sweet/savoury dipping sauce. It's very refreshing, and I've made some for dinner. To go with the noodles are some tasty side dishes: Pan fried Tofu with Miso Peanut Sauce, Purple and Orange Carrot Fritters, Miso Marinated Boiled Egg, and an Edamame and Corn salad.


I'm using kombu stock again today because it's a vegetarian alternative to dashi (fish) stock, and adds lots of flavour.


Miso Peanut Sauce
I like to think of this as a Japanese version of satay sauce. I found the garlic taste was far too strong unless the sauce was cooked.


1 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic


½ tsp grated ginger
pinch of chilli powder to taste
water


Place all the ingredients in a small blender and mix until smooth. Add water until you achieve the consistency you prefer. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and heat for 3-5 minutes until it starts to bubble. Cool and store in the fridge for up to a week. This is a great sauce dabbed on grilled meat oat or tofu - it's very intensely flavoured, so you only need a small amount.


Purple and Orange Carrot Fritters
Unless the carrots are looking a bit old, you can leave the skin on.


½ orange carrot, finely shredded
½ purple carrot, finely shredded
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tapioca (or corn) flour
kombu stock
1 egg
vegetable oil for frying


Mix the flour together in a bowl, then add the egg. Slowly incorporate the egg into the flour, then add stock or water until the mixture has the consistency of thick cream. Leave to rest for 10 minutes while you shred the carrots, then mix the vegetables with the batter. Shallow-fry heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture, and drain well on paper towel.