Author Notes
A friend started talking soba, seaweed and shitakes and described his mastered recipe for a steaming bowl of goodness that is true to its Japanese roots — simple, but amazing. Who needs a Japanese noodle house when you create a dish like this at home? Once you have a few of these items stocked in your cupboard, you can easily bring the East into your kitchen any night of the week without a lot of effort. Note: you don’t have to go to a Japanese specialty market to get all the makings, most health-food shops (or even Whole Foods) will carry everything you need. —cdilaura
Ingredients
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1
sheet kombu-style seaweed (or 1oz shredded)
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1 ounce
dried shitakes (or a handful of fresh shitakes or Maitakes)
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6 cups
cold water
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1
leek, washed and sliced
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1
egg, poached
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1-2
chopped scallions
Directions
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Soak seaweed and stems of mushrooms in water for 3-4 hours {or longer — start overnight or before you head out for work}. If you’re short on time or have a last minute craving you can soak for 30 minutes and then heat in a saucepan on low heat for 30 minutes.
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Remove seaweed. Add sliced caps of mushrooms and washed & sliced leeks. Simmer in a covered pot for 30 minutes-3 hours depending on how savory you want the broth and how much time you have.
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Boil 1-2 servings of soba noodles according to package instructions and add to broth. If you make extra store in a separate container so they don't get soggy in the fridge.
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Add mirin and soy sauce to taste. Add enough miso to cloud the broth. Top with chopped scallions.
Some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, mine was wooden. With an Italian heritage on one side and a Lebanese heritage on the other, good food was never hard to find. I grew up with Sunday dinners at Grandma’s, big pots of sauce simmering away on the stove all day and hand cut pasta drying on the rack in the basement. The perfume of lemon, garlic, garden grown herbs and other fresh ingredients always scented our family kitchens. So it is no surprise that my love for fresh, hand-prepared food is something I now love to share with new and old friends. Because of that, I put on my apron, sharpened my knives and started a blog and NYC supper club called 8.ate@eight to continue spreading the good food love.
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