Soba noodles with tekka

From ThisBlueWiki

This recipe is adapted from Alan Roettinger's Speed Vegan, a cookbook that's proving to be a great place to get recipes which don't take too long and can be tweaked and dressed up for a Saturday evening, or kept simple for a Tuesday.

The recipe specifies lotus root soba noodles. So far I've just made it with plain, 20% buckwheat soba. I'm still looking for an inexpensive source of organic 100% buckwheat noodles.

I've adapted the recipe to sweeten it a little and cut the sharpness of the shallots to fit household preferences.

• 8 oz lotus root soba noodles or other soba noodles
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• ½ cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp tekka
• 2 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp tamari
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tsp agave nectar, simple syrup, etc.
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp fresh lime juice
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (orig recipe calls for 1 tsp Sriracha sauce)

Fill a large pot with water. Add the salt and bring to a boil.

While waiting on the water to boil, chop shallots. Add the olive oil to a small skillet, crush the garlic through a garlic press into it, drop in the shallots and about 3 min before you drop the soba noodles into the boiling water, turn heat on medium-low. The aim here is to softly cook the shallots and mellow their taste a bit. Mix them around well occasionally.

While the noodles are cooking, in a small bowl combine the tekka, mirin, tamari, parsley, agave sweetener, sesame oil, lime juice, and cayenne.

At 3-4 minutes or when noodles are done according to package instructions, drain them in a colander. Do not shake out every last drop of water. Return them to the pot, add the shallots and oil, toss vigorously to mix well. Immediately add the tekka mixture and toss until evenly distributed. Serve at once.

This is good with steamed kale. Thinking about adding extra firm tofu to it, serving it alongside plain tofu (or a cold tofu dish), or tofu cubes stir-fried with snap peas. As a starchy entree, this recipe will only make enough that you will want two vegetables to accompany it. Or perhaps 1 veggie and the hiyayakko (cold tofu with garnish).