Greening Austin Daily

Recipe Tuesday – Japanese Tofu Skewers on Soba

31st August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

I tried out this vegetarian recipe yesterday for something different.  I had 2 setbacks in making this recipe: 1) I couldn’t find soba noodles at the HEB on Spicewood Springs so I had to use pad thai noodles and 2) I foolishly assumes that of course there would be soy sauce in the pantry, so I didn’t pick any up at the store and it turned out we didn’t have any. That said, it turned out pretty well even without all of the right ingredients, and I would like to try it again with soy sauce and soba noodles. Here are the directions:

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2  cup  mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 2  tablespoons  toasted sesame oil ( I just used regular sesame oil)
• 10  to 12 ounces nigari tofu, cut into 1-in. cubes (I couldn’t find this either, I just bought “firm” tofu)
• 16  small fresh shiitake mushroom caps (again, not at HEB, so I used regular mushrooms)
• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 4  green onions, cut into 1 1/2-in. lengths
• 12  ounces  dried soba noodles
• 8  radishes, thinly sliced
• 2/3  cup  reduced-sodium vegetable broth
• 2  teaspoons  wasabi paste
• 1  teaspoon  lemon zest
• 1/4  cup  lemon juice

Preparation

1. Heat grill to medium. ( I grilled mine inside on a cast-iron grill pan)

2. Mix soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil in a bowl. Add tofu and marinate 10 minutes.

3. Heat a large pot of water to boiling. In a bowl, toss mushrooms in oil to coat.

4. Drain tofu, reserving marinade. Slip cubes onto 4 metal or soaked wooden skewers, alternating with green onions and mushrooms. Thinly slice any leftover onion.

5. Boil noodles in water until al dente, 4 minutes. Drain; rinse well with cold water. Divide noodles among dinner bowls and garnish with radishes and sliced onion.

6. Oil cooking grate, using tongs and a wad of oiled paper towels. Grill tofu skewers, covered, turning once, until lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Set skewers on noodles.

7. Mix marinade with broth, wasabi, lemon zest, and juice and serve on the side.