A bowl of salad with multicoloured ingredients, a dish of sauce and chopsticks — Photography, Yannick van Leeuwaarde

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.

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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.