what to do with cha soba

True confession time again.

I’ve been to Daiso 4 times in the last 4 weeks. Obscene right? It all started off because I need a plastic bowl for my morning cereal. It has now morphed into a weekly, mostly innocent visit to pick up a peeler, a bottle opener, some tupperware. Whatevah. Then I started venturing into the food section at Daiso and it was all downhill from there.

Sometimes I buy things and have no idea what I’m going to do with them when I get home. Such was the case when I spotted some green tea soba at Daiso. For two dollahs I figured I didn’t have much to lose. I perused the internet (as is what often happens, you go to Google for life’s answers) and found two recipes that served as inspiration. One is from superfamous food blog Chocolate & Zucchini and the other from the Aussie mag The Gourmet Traveller.

Here’s my version, hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1 serving of cha soba (aka green tea buckwheat noodles), I used about 90g
• 1 small cucumber, diced
• 100g of firm tofu, diced
• 1/2 stalk of green onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of sesame oil
• chili flakes (to your taste)
• ground black pepper (to your taste)
• dash of lemon or lime (I used kalamansi)
• furikake of your choice (mine had nori, bonito flakes, and sesame seeds)

Method

1. Follow the instructions on the soba package. Generally they say to boil for 3-4 minutes and then plunge into cold or ice water. Then drain.
2. Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, chili flakes, black pepper, and lemon juice  in a small bowl.
3. Mix the green onion and cucumbers with the soba and toss in the sauce.
4. Add the tofu and mix gently. Focus on the word gently. Unless you want our tofu smashed up you hafta be gentle.
5. Sprinkle furikake on top and eat up.

The noodles smelled very green tea-y right out the bag but the taste of the matcha isn’t very strong after you cook it up. This was a nice light meal that still filled me up. It would probably be awesome with some fresh tuna (the sushi kind not the canned kind) mixed in as well. The sauce ingredients are all up to you. From the recipes I came across the basics are – soy sauce, something acidic (mirin, rice wine vinegar or, in my case, lemon), and some sweet stuff.

Now, what to do with that red bean paste…