Cold buckwheat noodles 日式冷蕎麥麵

Tuesday was the first day of summer. In the US, many people celebrating it by having BBQ in the backyard. Well, we only have a charcoal grill, and to fire up a charcoal grill is a lot of work, so I decide to cook something else instead. This cold Japanese style buckwheat noodles fits the theme! Of course, we will pick some other day to have a BBQ party in our backyard. I have to admit that BBQ meat tastes very good!

To do this cold buckwheat noodles authentically, I did a lot of homework. Here is what I found:

  

Ingredients:

Sauce (makes about 2 1/2 cups):

• Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine) 70 mL
• Soy sauce 70 mL
• Dried bonito flakes (柴魚片) 30 g
• Water 500 mL (= 2 cups)
• ps. the sauce tastes really good, very authentic. It is also the sauce for tempura, just add mashed turnips in the sauce.

Noodles and garnish:

• Buckwheat noodles 2 bundles
• Seaweed flakes
• Wasabi
• Scallion, chopped

Instructions:

1. Cook the dried bonito flakes in water for 5-8 minutes. Filter off the fried flakes.

2. Cook the mirin and soy sauce together until just boil. Add the filtrate from step 1. 

3. Cook until just boil. Turn off heat. Let cool.

4. Cook the buckwheat noodles to "al dente", about 5 minutes. Drain and soak in ice water immediately.

5. To assemble, drain the noodles from ice water. Garnish with chopped scallions, wasabi sauce and seaweed flakes on top. Mix well.

6. Pick up the portion for a bite with chopsticks, dip in the sauce and eat it.