Green Tea Soba Noodles With Seared Tuna

Soba has enjoyed widespread popularity for more than 400 years in Japan. Its popularity then spread around the world. The fact of the light texture, energy giving and well-balanced nutrition of soba make it as the perfect food at all seasons.

Previously, I made Soba Noodles with Five-Spice Pork Salad and Soba Noodles in Kombu Dashi with Teriyaki Salmon; both are tasty and simple recipes. This time, I wanted to try something different. Instead of using plain soba noodles, I opted for green tea soba or also known as chya soba. Green tea soba have a subtle green tinge and are mixed with matcha (green tea).

I have read on the internet on how to cook perfect soba. So, I thought this would be a great topic to share:

1) Boil a large amount of water.

2) The boiling time depends on the thickness of the noodles. To cook the regular thickness of soba, you’ll need about one and a half minutes. And if the soba is thicker then you’ll need to cook longer.

3) Make sure the noodles are cooked completely. If the noodles aren’t boiled long enough, they will be hard to eat.

4) Scoop up the cooked soba with a strainer, and set the noodles down briefly in a bowl of cold water.

With green tea soba, I was inspired to serve seared tuna with. Again, this dish doesn’t require a lot of fancy ingredients, keep it to the simplest is the best.

Recipe: Green Tea Soba Noodles With Seared Tuna

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Tuna steaks, 4, about 125g each

Sesame oil, 4 tbsp

Black or white sesame seeds, 4 tbsp

Green tea soba noodles, 250g

Courgette (cut into cubes), 1 small

Spring onions or chives (finely chopped), 4

Sauce:

Lemon juice, 4 tbsp

Soya sauce, 3 tbsp

Root ginger (chopped), 3cm

Mirin, 3 tbsp

Sugar, 1 tbsp

Method:

1) Boil the noodles in salted water until al dente. Drain. As we are not going to use the noodles straightaway, leave in a bowl of cold water.

2) Drizzle the tuna with 1 tbsp sesame oil and season. Roll in the sesame seeds until coated. Heat a non-stick frying pan to very hot. Sear the tuna on both sides. Keep warm.

3) In a saucepan, saute the courgette until soft. Then, put in ginger, mix well. Followed by lemon juice, soya sauce, mirin and sugar. Stir and mix well. Add in a bit of water if necessary.

4) Drain soba noodles and add in to the saucepan. Mix and make sure the sauce is well coated.

5) Slice the tuna.

6) Divide the noodles into 4 shallow bowls, serve slices of tuna on top. Drizzle extra sauce from the saucepan.