The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com.
This was a delicious Daring Cooks’ challenge. I had never had soba noodles before and was a little bit skeptical about whether or not it was something we would enjoy. I’ve tried many whole wheat pastas in the past that were too healthy and not tasty, but these buckwheat noodles have a wonderful texture and mellow, slightly salty taste.
I knew I liked tempura, but had never made it at home. This tempura was very light and easy to make, but I’m still not sure that I would make it again because I rarely cook fried foods at home.
But the Soba Salad I would definitely make again. I was surprised that I liked the Soba Salad even more than the tempura. It reminded me of a pasta salad with an Asian twist. It is a quick healthy meal, that would be perfect on a hot summer night.
Ingredients
- 2 quarts (2 Liters) water + 1 cup cold water, separate
- 12 oz (340 g) dried soba (buckwheat) noodles (or any Asian thin noodle)
- ¾ cup 70gm/2½ oz spring onions/green onions/scallions, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (4 ? gm) (0.16 oz) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1/8 gm) (0.005 oz) English mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) grape-seed oil or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) sesame oil (if you can’t find this just omit from recipe.)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste - roughly 1/3 a teaspoon of each
- Thin omelet strips
- Ham
- Boiled chicken breasts
- Cucumber
- Boiled bean sprouts
- Tomatoes
- Toasted nori (Dried Seaweed)
- Green onions
- Wasabi powder
- Finely grated daikon (Japanese radish)
- Beni Shoga (Pickled Ginger)
Directions
- Heat 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the noodles a small bundle at a time, stirring gently to separate. When the water returns to a full boil, add 1 cup of cold water. Repeat this twice. When the water returns to a full boil, check the noodles for doneness. You want to cook them until they are firm-tender. Do not overcook them.
- Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse well under cold running water until the noodles are cool. This not only stops the cooking process, but also removes the starch from the noodles. This is an essential part of soba noodle making. Once the noodles are cool, drain them and cover them with a damp kitchen towel and set them aside allowing them to cool completely.
Notes
Recipes courtesy of Globetrotter DiariesAbout.com-Japanese Food
Ingredients
- 1 egg yolk from a large egg
- 1 cup (240 ml) iced water
- ½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dredging
- ½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) cornflour (also called cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (2½ gm) (0.09 oz) baking powder
- oil, for deep frying preferably vegetable
- ice water bath, for the tempura batter (a larger bowl than what will be used for the tempura should be used. Fill the large bowl with ice and some water, set aside)
- Very cold vegetables and seafood of your choice ie:
- Sweet potato, peeled, thinly sliced, blanched
- Carrot, peeled, thinly sliced diagonally
- Pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, thinly sliced blanched
- Green beans, trimmed
- Green bell pepper/capsicum, seeds removed, cut into 2cm (¾ inch)-wide strips
- Assorted fresh mushrooms
- Eggplant cut into strips (traditionally it’s fanned)
- Onions sliced
Directions
- Place the iced water into a mixing bowl. Lightly beat the egg yolk and gradually pour into the iced water, stirring (preferably with chopsticks) and blending well. Add flours and baking powder all at once, stroke a few times with chopsticks until the ingredients are loosely combined. The batter should be runny and lumpy. Place the bowl of batter in an ice water bath to keep it cold while you are frying the tempura. The batter as well as the vegetables and seafood have to be very cold. The temperature shock between the hot oil and the cold veggies help create a crispy tempura.
- Heat the oil in a large pan or a wok. For vegetables, the oil should be 320°F/160°C; for seafood it should be 340°F/170°C. It is more difficult to maintain a steady temperature and produce consistent tempura if you don’t have a thermometer, but it can be done. You can test the oil by dropping a piece of batter into the hot oil. If it sinks a little bit and then immediately rises to the top, the oil is ready.
- Start with the vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, that won’t leave a strong odor in the oil. Dip them in a shallow bowl of flour to lightly coat them and then dip them into the batter. Slide them into the hot oil, deep frying only a couple of pieces at a time so that the temperature of the oil does not drop.
- Place finished tempura pieces on a wire rack so that excess oil can drip off. Continue frying the other items, frequently scooping out any bits of batter to keep the oil clean and prevent the oil (and the remaining tempura) from getting a burned flavor.
- Serve immediately for the best flavor, but they can also be eaten cold.
Notes
Recipes courtesy of pink bites and itsy bitsy foodies
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I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
Soba noodles are my favorite! Will have to try the tempura at home.
Love the look of your tempura! Unfortunatelly I didn’t have buckwheat noodle had to use bean ones. I’ll def make tempura again – with soba I’m not so sure
Cheers from sunny but cold Ireland!
Anula.
Hmmm – will definitely be giving this a try. This looks super delicious.
The tempura and the salad both look delicious! Love your presentation too.
A beautiful meal! Well, done.
Cheers,
Rosa
Both of these are really fun recipes, Barbara! I wish I could say that I don’t make fried foods, but I do enjoy them on occasion. I happened to watch a tv show the other day that talked about using cornflour in the tempura batter. They were saying that cornflour is a secret ingredient that helps make the batter light. After looking at the pictures of your tempura, I have to say that your batter looks wonderful. I would be very happy to both recipes!
Great job! I too liked the soba noodles even more than the tempura.
Loved this challenge because it made me like cold soba noodles too. Wasn’t too keen on the tempura either but it was great to have tried it for this challenge. Great job!
I’ll have to try this tempura! Looking at all the ingredients for the soba noodles sounds like those would be super good too!
Your tempura looks perfect – just like what I’ve ordered many times at the Japanese. I’m not a big fan of home deep-frying either. 1. I’m too scared and 2. seeing all that oil tends to put me off.
Well done on this challenge. Success!
This salad looks wonderful. I love the thought of these Japanese flavors. I bet it was even better the second night…if there were any leftovers.
Great job on the challenge ~ can’t wait til next month!
Loving this challenge Barbara. Beautiful challenge this one as these flavours are my favourite for sure.
i’ve never tried tempura before, but i’d love to, it looks so dang good! happy valentine’s day!
After all this sugar (for weeks) this looks so gooooooood. Beautiful!
Your tempura is p.e.r.f.e.c.t the batter is so thin and crisp and wonderful to hear that you will be making the soba noodles again. wonderful photographs as always.
Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
Aww mum you’re so clever! I’ve never made soba noodles before but I really like the cold ones in Summer-they’re so refreshing! Yours look perfect!
xxx
WOW, thats a very successful attempt on the challenge. They look delicious and very authenticly asian!
Io ho mangiato questi piatti solo al ristorante giapponese e sono squisiti!!
Non ho mai provato a farli in casa penso sia un po complicato da fare…. la tua preparazione invece è perfetta!! complimenti.
Ciao a presto
I had no idea what goes into making tempura. Ice baths? Blimey!! I do love oriental food though so I’d really like eating these.
I rarely cook fried foods at home either but this was not too bad in terms of smell etc. And so delicious! Love love love the sweet potato tempura!
We love soba noodles and I’ve made salads with them before…and I really like your dipping sauce. Will make it soon.
Much as I like tempura, I’ve never attempted it at home. The batter is so light and your recipe looks easily doable for the home cook, Barbara. Great job!
Barbara your tempura looks so light and crispy! I was also surprised at how good soba salad is! Love your decoration!
I love tempura and make it once in a while when I want to clean up my fryer…
The sauce looks amazing! It’s on my list for next time I try my hand at tempura- I’ll bet the sweet potatoes would go with it especially well!
yum….
I love ordering tempura—need to try it at home sometime now!
Barbara…great challenge…love them both, specially the tempura…looks very tempting
Barbara, what a simple healthy meal! I love tempura. Yours look very appertizing. Thanks for sharing & hope you’re enjoying your day.
Blessings, Kristy
I’ve always wanted to try soba noodles!
This looks great Barbara. I adore tempura, and all of those wonderful Asian flavours in the noodles sound devine. I also covet your very pretty fan!
Love your soba and tempura. For a first timer this definitely looks like a wonderful turnout… I am admiring how crispy and tasty your tempura is
I have always wanted to try soba noodles–this looks wonderful. But I agree about tempura–I hate frying and would rather eat it in a restaurant than make it. Your photo is wonderful–I love how you styled it–that fan is such a nice touch!
Beautiful display of the noodles and tempura! The table looks as appetizing as the food. I’m glad you liked the soba – I was sure I would like it but I’d have to find a spicier sauce to go with it. And the tempura – I’m with you, I don’t do lots of frying – but the sweet potatoes were so good! Yours look very crispy, so you must have found the right temperature for the oil. Good job, Barbara!
I rarely cook fried foods at home either. Its just too messy
I tried over Christmas and it was a disaster. churros
I rarely cook fried foods at home either. Its just too messy
I tried churros over Christmas and it was a disaster.
Ohh I love tempura! Yours looks so delicate and delicious!
As much as I like tempura I seldom make it at home because of the deep frying. This soba recipe sounds delicious, Barbara, and I’m looking forward to trying it.
I love tempura, and yours looks so fresh and light. I’ll have to try the soba noodles on your glowing recommendation:)
this looks absolutely lovely!