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Chilled Soba in Dashi With Tomatoes and Corn
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
![Chilled Soba in Dashi With Tomatoes and Corn](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/09/12/multimedia/17EATrex-chilled-soba-bfpw/17EATrex-chilled-soba-bfpw-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 40 minutes, plus at least 1 hour cooling
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1½ hours, plus at least 1 hour cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 5plum tomatoes (about 1½ pounds)
- 2medium ears corn, kernels shaved off, cobs reserved
- 4dried shiitake mushrooms
- ⅓cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, stems reserved and chopped to yield 2 tablespoons
- 2scallions, tips trimmed and reserved for dashi, remaining scallions finely sliced
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- Fine sea salt
- 4½ teaspoons soy sauce
- 1tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ½green chile, halved, deseeded and finely chopped
- 10ounces dried soba noodles
- 1tablespoon white miso
Preparation
- Step 1
Use a box grater to roughly grate the tomatoes. Transfer the grated tomatoes to a sieve set over a bowl to collect the liquid; reserve the skins. Once most of the liquid has drained out of the grated tomatoes, transfer the pulp to a small bowl and set aside.
- Step 2
Prepare the dashi: Place the reserved tomato skins, drained tomato liquid, corn cobs, mushrooms, cilantro leaves and scallion trimmings in a medium saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes until the mushrooms have rehydrated and the dashi is fragrant. Transfer to a metal bowl and place in the fridge to cool.
- Step 3
Mix the corn kernels with 1 tablespoon of oil and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Place a grill pan or cast-iron skillet over high heat, and once hot, add the corn. Stir constantly, as the corn will pop otherwise, until charred and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to the pan, stirring to evenly coat the corn. Transfer the corn back into the bowl and mix through the vinegar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and the remaining tablespoon of oil. Set aside until cool (about 30 minutes), then mix through the reserved cilantro stems, chile and scallions.
- Step 4
Once the dashi is cold, strain, discarding all the solids apart from the mushrooms. Thinly slice the mushrooms and set aside. Measure 2 ½ cups of the dashi, topping up with water or discarding any excess if necessary. Season with 1 ½ teaspoons of salt and the remaining ½ teaspoon of soy sauce. Set aside.
- Step 5
Bring a pan of water up to the boil and cook the noodles as per the packet instructions. Once cooked, strain under cold water until completely cool then divide among four bowls.
- Step 6
Season the reserved tomato pulp with the miso and ⅛ teaspoon of salt.
- Step 7
To serve, pour the dashi over the noodles, around ⅔ cup per bowl, and scatter the corn, tomato and shiitakes on top. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Delicious! First time I’ve grated tomatoes! The only adjustment I made was just a few pinches of salt in the dashi in the end instead of the 1 1/2 teaspoons due to low sodium diet. Didn’t miss the salt because the rest was so flavorful.
Just made this tonight. Amazing and a keeper. Taste the dashi and adjust salt accordingly before you assemble! Used a rather large heirloom tomato instead of Romas. Added some furikake to the noodles and sprinkled a little togarashi on the finished bowls. Also added a splash of soy to the sliced mushrooms. Served alongside some teriyaki salmon from the NYtimes.
It says "Once the dashi is cold, strain, discarding all the solids apart from the mushrooms. Thinly slice the mushrooms and set aside." Pretty straightforward.
I have frozen roma tomatos, can I use them? And what about fresh mushrooms?
When does the miso go in?
This was a tremendous amount of work for results. I am an experienced, fast home cook. Yet this recipe was time consuming and necessitated multiple re-checks the recipe. End result was refreshing and… OK, I guess? Miso tomato pulp element was the best part. But dashi was underwhelming, even though I'd followed recipe precisely. Since it all goes together in a soupy bowl, multiple divisions of the soy sauce seemed overly complicated. Would not make again.
Been cooking this since i bought "Plenty" years ago. Ottolenghi never disappoints, and so appreciate this homage to the soba!
Refreshing and complex tastes and textures. Definitely will make this again but this time for guests.
"Season the reserved tomato pulp with the miso and ⅛ teaspoon of salt." Then what...? I assume, mix in with the soba, etc. per the photo. But written instructions don't say.
Step 7: " scatter the corn, tomato and shiitakes on top"
Just made this tonight. Amazing and a keeper. Taste the dashi and adjust salt accordingly before you assemble! Used a rather large heirloom tomato instead of Romas. Added some furikake to the noodles and sprinkled a little togarashi on the finished bowls. Also added a splash of soy to the sliced mushrooms. Served alongside some teriyaki salmon from the NYtimes.
The mushrooms: first it says to discard the “mushroom solids” and then it says to slice the mushrooms. I’m confused.
It says "Once the dashi is cold, strain, discarding all the solids apart from the mushrooms. Thinly slice the mushrooms and set aside." Pretty straightforward.
Rather than grating the tomatoes, may I just use a food mill?
I wouldn't. You want the skin for the dashi. It's really easy to grate the tomatoes on a regular grater. Use the large holes. Stop when you reach the skin.
Delicious! First time I’ve grated tomatoes! The only adjustment I made was just a few pinches of salt in the dashi in the end instead of the 1 1/2 teaspoons due to low sodium diet. Didn’t miss the salt because the rest was so flavorful.
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