yakisoba!
I was adventurous today. I've been eating soba noodles somewhat often lately, after buying a pack of them a few months ago and then forgetting to use them. But they're yummy, and they cook really fast (in like 5 minutes!!) Still, while chilled soba noodles and soba sauce is nice and refreshing, it doesn't strike me as all that nutritious. At restaurants, I've seen soba served with tempura, but I am not quite daring enough to try making my own deep-fried veggies (plus I don't have sweet potato! so what's the point??)... So I need to come up with other ideas for my soba-dishes. The other day I scrambled up some eggs and cooked them with spinach and goat cheese and soba-that was good. But today I was trying to think of what else I could do with soba and I realized I've never had yakisoba!! So I researched a couple recipes and tried it out.
And how did it go? Pretty well! ...aside from sending a geyser of soy sauce across the kitchen and into the cats' food and water dishes and on the wall and down the cupboard... and then slicing my pinky knuckle while attempting to grate a carrot... Heh heh heh. This got me thinking, I wouldn't mind the "shoujo protagonist who can't cook" cliché if mangaka just got a bit more creative about it. Slicing a knuckle is maybe a little gory (though it would have been a perfect moment for the hero to waltz in with a bandage!!), but I think splurting soy sauce across the kitchen has a lot more humour potential than "Oh no, I burned everything! I can't make a riceball!" Right? Or maybe it was just funny to me at the time...
Anyway, thankfully everything else worked out well-I didn't set any fires or ruin any kitchen utensils or poison anybody. And it tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself! (I don't know what "real" yakisoba should taste like or if I got close, but I enjoyed my meal and that's what counts!)
If you're curious, here's the recipe I followed (for one serving):
soba noodles (cooked/rinsed)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine (which I don't actually have. I'm sure it's nothing alike, but I just used rice milk)
3 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
some cabbage, sliced thinly (which I also don't have, so I used spinach (and didn't bother chopping it, since it cooks through quickly as is))
1 carrot, grated (or if you fear slicing a finger, you could just cut it into little rounds)
1/4 Tbsp chopped ginger (again, didn't have... being traumatized by pinky incident, forgot to think of a substitute for. oh well)
some chicken, chopped up (I didn't cook it first, just thawed it out)
a green onion for garnish (optional)
1. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, rice wine and sugar. Set aside
2. Cook onion in oil until softened.
3. Add cabbage (spinach), carrot and ginger. Cook for a couple more minutes.
4. Add chicken; cook a little longer.
5. Add noodles and pour soy-mixture over top. Cover pan and let heat for ~3 minutes.
6. Toss everything together, serve with sliced green onion garnish.
See! Very simple. It might have been a bit heavy on the soy sauce, but my taste preferences are a little on the bland side (I don't care for really salty stuff). Try it for yourselves!!
(original recipe for 4 is here... my transcription is a bit paraphrased, so it might be a good idea to read through the other one too)
Next time: soba cake! (hee hee♥)
And how did it go? Pretty well! ...aside from sending a geyser of soy sauce across the kitchen and into the cats' food and water dishes and on the wall and down the cupboard... and then slicing my pinky knuckle while attempting to grate a carrot... Heh heh heh. This got me thinking, I wouldn't mind the "shoujo protagonist who can't cook" cliché if mangaka just got a bit more creative about it. Slicing a knuckle is maybe a little gory (though it would have been a perfect moment for the hero to waltz in with a bandage!!), but I think splurting soy sauce across the kitchen has a lot more humour potential than "Oh no, I burned everything! I can't make a riceball!" Right? Or maybe it was just funny to me at the time...
Anyway, thankfully everything else worked out well-I didn't set any fires or ruin any kitchen utensils or poison anybody. And it tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself! (I don't know what "real" yakisoba should taste like or if I got close, but I enjoyed my meal and that's what counts!)
If you're curious, here's the recipe I followed (for one serving):
soba noodles (cooked/rinsed)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine (which I don't actually have. I'm sure it's nothing alike, but I just used rice milk)
3 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
some cabbage, sliced thinly (which I also don't have, so I used spinach (and didn't bother chopping it, since it cooks through quickly as is))
1 carrot, grated (or if you fear slicing a finger, you could just cut it into little rounds)
1/4 Tbsp chopped ginger (again, didn't have... being traumatized by pinky incident, forgot to think of a substitute for. oh well)
some chicken, chopped up (I didn't cook it first, just thawed it out)
a green onion for garnish (optional)
1. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, rice wine and sugar. Set aside
2. Cook onion in oil until softened.
3. Add cabbage (spinach), carrot and ginger. Cook for a couple more minutes.
4. Add chicken; cook a little longer.
5. Add noodles and pour soy-mixture over top. Cover pan and let heat for ~3 minutes.
6. Toss everything together, serve with sliced green onion garnish.
See! Very simple. It might have been a bit heavy on the soy sauce, but my taste preferences are a little on the bland side (I don't care for really salty stuff). Try it for yourselves!!
(original recipe for 4 is here... my transcription is a bit paraphrased, so it might be a good idea to read through the other one too)
Next time: soba cake! (hee hee♥)