Recipe: Cold Soba Noodles (and my adventures as a pretend Top Chef contestant)

I’ve started to play this dinner game. It’s been brought on by me being too lazy (and on too tight of a budget) to go to the grocery store. So, on the nights that I don’t invite myself to my parents, a few nights a week I venture into my pantry and try to use what I already have to make a sufficient dinner.

It’s basically Top Chef, but in my own kitchen. I’m finding that I actually have a lot of canned essentials. So if the big Cali earthquake is going to hit anytime soon – I’m pretty much prepared.

My diet has been consisting of lots of soup and cereal…and soba.

I know…you are probably looking at this picture thinking, what the heck is that? And, why would I ever want to eat grey looking noodles? Did Foodie Byte really just venture into her pantry and eat OLD noodles?

Well – let me tell you, soba noodles are a staple in good Japanese restaurants. Some serve them hot in a soup and others server them cold. I prefer cold soba noodles since they are refreshing, simple and have a unique texture to them.

Benefits of soba noodles:

• Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour (hence the fugly color) and a whole package cooks in boiling water in five minutes. No joke, if you overcook them it comes out mushy.
• Found in most grocery stores for a cheap price (a major plus these days)
• Soba noodles contain rutin, an antioxidant, that helps to prevent heart disease
• And, my recipe takes less than five ingredients

…beat that Rachel Ray.

Below, I’m including an easy soba noodle recipe. It's a quick recipe that is great when I’m busy/starving. These even taste better the next day since they’ve been chillin’ in the fridge all day.

Easy Cold Soba Noodles

Ingredients:

One package of soba noodles
Soy-Sauce (if you want a better taste, opt for an authentic Japanese Soy Sauce)
Sesame oil
Rice vinegar
Honey

Garnish:
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Chives or thinly sliced green onions (optional)

Directions:

Boil a pot of water, once it begins to boil add the soba noodles. Cook for five minutes and drain. Set aside; when cool enough place in the fridge to cool. Can be made ahead.

In a small bowl combine 5 TBS soy sauce, 4.5 TBS sesame oil, 1 TBS rice vinegar and a ½ to 1 TSP of honey (depending on your own liking). Wisk together.

Add sauce to the soba noodles and chill.

Optional: Garnish the dish with sesame seeds (toasted) and the chives or green onions.

If you want to be fancy, serve on top of a bamboo tray with ice cubes underneath the tray.

The key to this dish is tasting the dressing before you add it to the noodles. If you like tart dishes, you’ll probably want to add more rice vinegar. If you like it sweeter, you’ll need to add more honey.

Variations:

The possibilities for soba noodles are endless -

For a more authentic version experiment with different ingredients. Try slicing up some dried seaweed and using it for a garnish.

You can add other ingredients like chunks of tofu or chilled shrimp.

Be adventurous!

Back to school…back to school…

With most kids heading back to school I am reminded of my freshman year of college. The first time away from Mom and Dad, no more home cooked meals, a cafeteria with any type of food I wanted and finally getting to eat what I wanted!

Well, after coming home at Christmas and putting on the Freshman 15 – I learned a few things:

• Just because pizza is a staple in the cafeteria doesn’t mean you need to eat it at least once a day
• Fries/pizza/grilled cheese/onion rings with ranch dressing are amazing…but you need to eat them in moderation
• Late night food is never a good idea
• Eat some greens every once in a while (once again, they don’t count if they are a pizza topping) – have a salad at least every few days people
• Pre-packaged sushi…not good…ever

Also – for those heading off to college – or know someone who is, here are some great gifts that every college kid should have (aside from the obvious microwave and mini-fridges):

• Electric water boiler: They sell these at tons of stores – all you have to do is fill it up, plug it into an outlet and you have hot water in minutes. Ideal for hot chocolate, tea and soup.
• Small coffee pot: I know, you may be thinking, “He/she doesn’t drink coffee.” Believe me, that will change when you are faced with an all-nighter or are a little tired from a late night of partying. You’ll find out that coffee is your new best friend.
• Two plastic sets of silverware, plates, bowls and plates: You’ll be surprised how many kids don’t have these. If you do have them, you’ll be pretty popular on your floor. (Note: my sister reminded me that you should only start out with a few of these since by the end of freshman year you’ll probably accumulate a whole kitchen set of silverware, plates, bowls and cups all from your cafeteria).
• Ice cube trays: Most mini-fridges don’t have built in ice cube makers like normal fridges – therefore a few ice cube trays are a must that will save you from going to the local liquor store to pick up a bag of ice.
• Blender – Another obvious, but necessity for those summery margaritas. Enough said.

As Seen In….Moonstruck

Moonstruck, I know you are probably wondering what it is.

It's a movie. It's made in the 80's. And, it's a love story starring Nicolas Cage and Cher. Yes, Cher.

They’re both hot-headed Italians, living in New York, looking for love late in their lives. She’s middle-aged living with her parents and he’s missing a hand. Yes a hand, quite the drama.

Anyways, in the movie Cher’s character, Lorretta, is arguing with her ma-da, Rose, played by Olympia Dukakis. In the scene her Ma is making some really good looking eggs. They’re called eggs in a nest.

Last weekend, I experimented with it and found that cookie cutters are a fun and easy way to make a fun shape in your toast while eatin your egg over easy with bread. I used a heart shaped one (only cookie cutter I could find) and my breakfast came out really cute!

Clip after the jump.


Ingredients

Non-stick cooking spray
Butter
Toast
Egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Coat your frying pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Use a cookie cutter or a knife to make a cutout in the center of the bread. Then, lightly butter both sides.

Place the bread in the frying pan, turn on to medium-high heat.

Once the pan is hot, crack the egg into the hole that you’ve made in the bread. Shake the pan around so that the egg white coats the underside of the bread. Wait a few minutes until the bottom side is cooked through and flip the toast and egg.

Flip over again and enjoy.

Review: Cha Cha Cha!

Should we all cha-cha over to Cha Cha Sushi?

Located next to a Parrot Cellular in a nondescript strip mall, Cha Cha Sushi is easy to miss.

But once you've been there, you'll be back for more.

Just ask the regulars steadily streaming in.

Indeed every time I'm in Cha Cha Sushi, it's full of diners - a sign of a good restaurant.

Even though the dining room is packed, the staff is attentive. I'm always seated right away.

I typically dine at Cha Cha during the day to take advantage of their well-priced lunch special.

This week, for the first time, I went for dinner.

I ordered the dinner combination. My choice of 2. So I selected the tempura + California rolls.

A bonus: Before my dish arrived, my server set out complimentary muscles. The muscles packed some heat. A spicy, but delicious start to my meal.

The dinner portion was well sized. I couldn't finish it all. The rice was moist and tempura was crispy. I had no complaints.

In addition to the typical ice cream desserts you see on the menus of Japanese restaurants, Cha Cha Sushi also offers mochi ice cream and blood orange sorbet.

My grade? An "A" Japanese restaurant in San Jose.

Information:
Name: Cha Cha Sushi
Address: 547 W Capitol Expressway, San Jose, CA 95136
Pricing: Moderate pricing; $11-30 dollars depending on what you order
Byte Rating: 5 out of 5

This post was written by the head blogger at Sudden Cravings. For more information, visit: http://suddencravings.blogspot.com/.