Flavour of the month: Agedashi and Buckwheat Soba

Agedashi and Buckwheat Soba

With a few changes to the recipe, it becomes a flavoursome yet healthy meal.

Like me, you may have been scrolling through Japanese recipes on Taste and found an appealing recipe. Although the recipe seems basic, (my mum helped me fix the recipe) I think there are some flaws in the portions and timing of the recipe. This will be my first post on this blog which'll hopefully be about health, lifestyle, outfits and tips. 

Credits: The original recipe is by Valli Little

  Dashi

Above are the original details of the recipe. The taste of dashi stock is really distinct so I'd recommend that you don't start this recipe unless you can find the dashi granules. If you can't find this, you can adding dry bonito flakes instead. 

  Mirin

I also struggled to find mirin in Asian grocery stores - to my surprise, Woolworths stocked it for about $3 a bottle. If you're worried about mirin being a strong wine, it's not at all. In fact, you can't notice any bitter/offsetting taste at all.

  Light and Dark Soy Sauce

Light soy sauce, is just normal soy sauce (like the Maggi ones). You may need the dark soy sauce due to its distinct taste however, it's not really necessary - it just contains more soybeans so it has more flavour. Instead, you can really just add more normal soy sauce.

[Edited] Ingredients: 

For the stock:

• 8 dried Asian mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon dashi granules*                                   * = add a bit more for more flavour
• 20ml (1 tablespoon) light soy sauce*                          and to counteract blandness from
• 20ml (1 tablespoon) dark soy sauce*                         adding more water
• 40 ml (2 tablespoons mirin*       
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornflour (not necessary)  
• 1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
• 300g silken tofu [don't use firm like the recipe mentions (and I did), it's too hard + dry]
• 1 tablespoon flour, to dust
• 200g buckwheat soba, cooked and drained

 ♥♥

Below is an edited method to make up for the lack of stock, flavour and cooking time.

1. Soak mushrooms in a moderate amount of boiled water. After 10 minutes, drain the water out and set the mushrooms aside.

2. Put 280ml hot water inside a pan over medium heat and put the dashi granules in.

3. Add the sugar, soy sauces and mushroom. Simmer for up to 10 minutes to allow the mushrooms to become more plump and juicy.

4. Add in the carrot and shallots (I cut carrots but only sliced them so I didn't add it)

At this moment, you can still allow the the broth to be boiling while you prepare the tofu with no rush. 

5. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. 

6. Pat the cut tofu (any size you like) in flour. You may add salt and pepper to the flour if you wish.

7. With the vegetable oil, fry each side for 1 - 1.5 mins or until golden

8. Place the noodles in bowls, add a piece of tofu, and 2 mushrooms from the broth. 

9. Pour the broth over everything.

You're done! :)

Summarised ingredients tips:

• If you can't find dashi granules, substitute it with bonito flakes
• The taste of mirin is not too distinct, don't stress without it
• Without dark soy sauce, you can add more normal (light) soy sauce
• Corn flour is unecessary!
• Silken tofu is much better for agedashi, firm tofu is hard and dry

Summarised cooking tips:

• Add more water and more soy sauce + granules to increase the quantity of the broth
• You don't need to rush with the broth, letting the mushrooms cook in the broth for longer will improve the flavour

 ♥♥