Japanese Soba Noodles

Whenever I am sick, all I crave is Japanese food: miso soup, fresh fish and rice, umeboshi plums, seaweed, ginger and wasabi.  It feels very clean and nurturing for my body.  So today, when my nose began to run from all this gloomy San Francisco weather, I knew what I wanted for dinner: a bowl of soba noodles (oohh now that I think about it, making a soba noodle miso soup would have been good too...next time...)  Most soba noodles are made from wheat flour and buckwheat flour (soba means buckwheat in Japanese.)  But in Whole Foods and some other stores you can find 100% buckwheat noodles (Mitoku and Eden brands).  Buckwheat, despite the confusing name, has no relation to wheat and is gluten free.  Check out my impromptu soba noodle dish:


Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 1 package of 100% buckwheat/soba noodles
• 1 block of firm tofu
• 1 bunch of kale, or bok choy or spinach...
• 3 tbs of wheat free soy sauce
• 1 tbs of rice vinegar or umeboshi vinegar
• 1/2 tbs of sesame oil
• 1/2 tbs of maple syrup or agave
• 1 tbs of fresh grated ginger
• 1 tsp (or more if you like) of wasabi powder
• 1-2 scallions sliced
• Sesame seeds and shredded nori (seaweed) for garnish

Directions:

1. Boil soba noodles in a pot for about 8 minutes until tender. Strain and rinse thoroughly with water. (Or follow the directions on the package of noodles.)
2. Wash and trim the kale, and steam for 5 minutes in a bamboo steamer (or any steamer will do.)
3. Cut the tofu into small thin rectangles.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup, ginger, wasabi, and scallions.  (If it's too salty for your taste add a few teaspoons of water.)
5. Marinate the tofu in the sauce while the noodles and kale cook.
6. In a bowl, gently mix together the noodles, kale, tofu and sauce.  Garnish with some sesame seeds and shredded nori and enjoy!