In this salad, I use soba to make a light summery dish with colourful toppings. It is full of wonderful textures with a sauce that makes it pop and gives it a Japanese/Asian flair. It is easy to make and you get a joyful party on the plate. –Alexander Gershberg
Rainbow Soba Noodle Salad
Alexander Gershberg's recipe for a healthy and colourful soba noodle salad, with crunchy veggies and a savoury Japanese-style sauce.
Ingredients
- 7 oz (200 g) soba noodles
- 3 tbsp roasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2½ oz (70 g) cashews
- 1 tsp shoyu
- 1 carrot julienned
- 1 clove garlic grated
- sea salt
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 long cucumber deseeded and cut into matchsticks
- 2 oranges cut into ¼ in thick rounds
- 12 radishes thinly sliced
- 1 sheet nori cut into thin strips
- 1¾ oz (50 g) pickled ginger cut into matchsticks
- 2 scallions thinly sliced
Sauce
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tbsp shoyu
- 2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic grated
- ¾ in piece ginger peeled and grated
Instructions
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the soba noodles and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold water — this will prevent the soba noodles sticking together. Return the noodles to the pan, drizzle over 2 tbsp of the sesame oil and mix to combine.
- Heat the olive oil and cashews in a small saucepan over medium heat and roast, stirring often to avoid burning the nuts, for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the nuts to a small bowl, add the shoyu and stir to coat.
- Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the carrot and the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, then add a pinch of salt and the mirin and sauté for another minute.
- Combine the soba noodle sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Divide the soba noodles among plates and top with a generous amount of the sauce. Top with the carrot, cucumber, orange, radish, nori, pickled ginger, spring onion and cashews and enjoy with chopsticks.
