If you know me, then you know I LOVE soba noodles. Actually, if you just scroll through this blog a bit, you'll see a lot of Soba Noodle recipes. Well, here's another one!
I used honey in this recipe, but if you want vegan, just use brown sugar instead. One thing I really like about this recipe is the use of ginger, lemon, and honey which is
an ayurvedic aid for digestion and many other ailments. I usually make a lemon, ginger, honey tea every night, but this works too. This is a tweaked recipe inspired by 101 Cookbooks.
1 tablespoon freshly grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup toasted sesame oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup Chopped white onion
2 teaspoons brown sugar (I actually used honey, but use sugar if you're making this vegan)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1 celery stalk chopped
3 tablespoons of chopped tarragon, plus more to taste
a few big handfuls of tofu, pan-fried until golden. I like to experiment with different shapes. This time I did matchsticks, and I browned on all 4 sides.
3 or so handfuls of sesame seeds. Maybe more if you love them, and less if you don't!
I started by making the dressing since it's the most time consuming:
Combine the ginger, toasted sesame oil, lemon juice, onion, sugar (or honey), salt, vinegar, celery, and in a food processor. My dressing came out a little clumpy, but that's because I don't own a food processor and didn't want to use and clean my blender. Instead I used my coffee grinder which worked just fine, but won't give you a smooth finish. It's up to you. Taste and tweak if needed to get the dressing to your liking. It like it with a bit of a bite. Set the dressing aside.
At this point I cut up the tofu and begin to sauté it with a little bit of sesame oil in a skillet. At the same time I start the water boiling and noodle cooking process. Once the noodles are done, drain and rise.
When everything is done, in a large bowl, toss the soba noodles with the tarragon, the tofu, the desired handfuls of sesame seeds, and about 2/3 of the dressing. I use all of the dressing, but if you're skeptical then just add a little at a time as you taste.
I ate this with a side of cooked kale, purple asparagus, and chopped up raw cucumber. It was pretty delightful and refreshing, especially for hot Florida weather. I ate everything right after cooking, so it was warm, but the next few days I had the leftover noodles cold, which was really good too. If you're feeling frisky add some cayenne or even cilantro! Hope you feel healthy and refreshed, and enjoy treating your body like a temple!
Oliver helped me cook too! He's a cool cat.
Namaste, Love, and Meow,
Monica and Oliver
