COLD SOBA WITH MUSHROOM AND LEEK SEIRO BROTH

To eat this dish from Sonoko Sakai, lift cold soba noodles, one mouthful at a time, with chopsticks, dip them into the hot seiro, or broth, flavored with sautéed leeks and enoki mushrooms, and slurp them up quickly. This method retains the soba noodles' integrity, preventing them from swelling or getting soggy while sitting in the hot broth.

Featured in: The Art of Homemade Soba Noodles

SERVES 4   30 MINUTES

Ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 leek, white part only, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 2 1⁄2-inch–long, 1⁄4-inch–wide strips
• 7 oz. enoki mushrooms
• 3 cups plus 2 tbsp. Dashi Stock
• 3⁄4 cup Kaeshi
• 8 oz. Fresh Soba Noodles or dried noodles
• 2 strips lemon zest (removed with a vegetable peeler), julienned

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and butter over medium-high. Add the leek and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the dashi and sauce base and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the soba noodles until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain the noodles again and divide among 4 serving plates. Divide the leeks, mushrooms, and sauce among 4 small serving bowls, top each with the lemon zest, and serve with the noodles.