Zaru Soba

Ingredients

• 200g dried soba noodles
• 250ml dashi
• 60ml soy sauce
• 60ml mirin
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
• 1 sheet toasted nori
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tsp wasabi paste
• 1 tbsp finely grated daikon, optional
• Plenty of ice

Before you cook

• Pour the mirin into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil for 30 seconds to burn off the alcohol.
• Add the soy sauce, dashi and sugar to the pan and bring it back to a simmer.
• Drop in the katsuobushi, turn off the heat and leave it to steep for 5 minutes.
• Strain the tsuyu through a fine sieve into a jug and chill it in the fridge or over an ice bath until cold.
• Cut the nori into fine shreds with scissors.
• Slice the spring onions very thinly and rinse them in cold water to take off the raw bite, then pat them dry.
• Fill a large bowl with cold water and plenty of ice.

Steps

1. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a hard rolling boil, using at least two litres so the noodles have room.
2. Scatter the soba into the water and stir once with chopsticks to separate the strands.
3. Boil for the time on the packet, usually 4 to 5 minutes, keeping the water moving and adding a splash of cold water if it threatens to boil over.
4. Taste a strand at the earliest time given, looking for a firm centre with no chalkiness.
5. Drain the soba into a colander and tip it straight into the iced water.
6. Rub the noodles between your hands under the water for 30 seconds to wash off the sticky starch, which is what keeps them clean-tasting and springy.
7. Change the water once and rub again, then drain the noodles thoroughly.
8. Shake the colander hard and let the soba sit for a minute so no water dilutes the dipping sauce.
9. Pile the noodles onto two bamboo zaru mats or flat plates.
10. Scatter the shredded nori over the top.
11. Pour the cold tsuyu into two small cups, filling each about two thirds.
12. Serve each person a little mound of spring onion, wasabi and grated daikon to stir into their cup as they eat, lifting a few noodles at a time and dipping only the ends.