12-Minute Vegan Cold Soba Noodles

Homemade Japanese cold soba noodles with seasonal vegetables (vegan)

The weather has been so hot lately that I’ve become very stingy about how long I keep the stove on. To get meals on the table as fast as possible, I’ve fallen in love with soba noodles. Soba cooks very quickly, usually in just 5 minutes. As a home cook, how could I not love noodles that are ready in so little time? Soba is also very nutritious. The main ingredients are buckwheat and water (some also contain wheat flour). Soba has 3-20 times the vitamins B1 and B2 of wheat flour, plus vitamin P, rutin, minerals, and dietary fiber. If you’d like to learn more about soba’s nutrition, you can check out this article summarizing a book by a Japanese nutritionist: Eating “soba” helps you stay slim and lowers blood pressure! Soba has a slightly grainy texture, which is part of why we love it so much. Our family especially loves whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta because we really like that slightly rough texture and the natural aroma of whole grains. If you’re like us, you’re sure to be a soba lover too.

12-minute vegan Japanese cold soba noodles & air-fried crispy enoki mushrooms

Ways to eat soba

The three most common ways to eat soba are cold soba with dipping sauce, soba with sauce poured over, and soba in hot broth. To learn about the differences between the three, check out ➢ One of Japan’s three great noodles: how much do you know about soba? My method in this recipe is closest to soba with sauce poured over: cook the noodles, put them in a large bowl or container, and finally pour cold sauce over them, a bit like eating cold noodles. The reason is simply that I find it the fastest and most convenient way, and you don’t need to prepare lots of serving pieces (like a bamboo zaru tray). But if you want more of a sense of occasion, cold soba with dipping sauce is the way to go. And who doesn’t love refreshing cold noodles in summer?

Soba ingredients

Soba ingredients

• Soba noodles - The makeup of soba noodles varies with the ratio of buckwheat flour to wheat flour (the “wari” ratio), and so does the texture. The more buckwheat flour, the more noticeable the graininess. Basically, any soba that’s easy for you to find is fine.
• Seasonal vegetables - Traditional soba isn’t served with vegetables, but I like to add some greens to every meal, so in this recipe I used carrot, baby corn, and bok choy.
• Soba sauce - Many store-bought sauces use traditional bonito soy sauce, so I chose a vegan kombu soy sauce, which is just as tasty. You’ll also need to add mirin and ice water.
• Other toppings and seasonings - Besides vegetables, I also added chopped scallions, grated daikon, wasabi, nori, sesame seeds, shichimi togarashi, and so on.
• Sides - Tempura, air-fried enoki mushrooms

Steps for homemade cold soba with seasonal vegetables

• Cook the soba - Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the soba, and cook for 5 minutes, or according to the suggested cooking time on the package. When it’s done, lift out the noodles and give them a quick rinse with some cold drinking water to cool them down. Fill a large bowl with water and ice and put the noodles in the ice water. Cooling the noodles and holding them in ice water stops the residual heat of the freshly cooked noodles from continuing to cook them, and the ice water also gives them a springier, chewier texture. So don’t skip this step, or your soba will turn out sticky and mushy.
• Blanch the vegetables - Next, use the same pot of boiling water to blanch the baby corn, carrot, and bok choy. The bok choy needs the shortest time, about 30 seconds to 1 minute before you take it out. A quick blanch keeps the vegetables’ nutrients and crunch.
• Soba sauce - Use a vegan kombu soy sauce, add the mirin, then add ice water depending on how salty you like it.
• Assemble - Get a large bowl, add the soba and vegetables, and finally pour over the sauce. Done.

How to store cold soba and soba sauce

How to store cold soba and soba sauce

Soba is best eaten right after it’s made. After all, it cooks so quickly that it’s very convenient. But if you need to meal prep or have leftovers, you can use the following storage methods.

Storing soba noodles

Fridge - Put room-temperature soba in a fully airtight container. I recommend keeping it in the fridge for no more than 3 days. Freezer - Divide room-temperature soba into individual portions and put them in fully airtight freezer bags or containers. They’ll keep frozen for 1 month. The day before you want to eat them, move them to the fridge to thaw.

Storing the sauce

Fridge - Put the soba sauce in an airtight container. It will keep in the fridge for about 1 week. Freezer - Pour the sauce into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once frozen solid, transfer the cubes to a zip-top bag. They can be thawed directly at room temperature.

More nutritious and delicious vegan recipes

▻ Air-fried crispy enoki mushrooms with miso lime sauce ▻ Roasted pumpkin pasta sauce with mushrooms, lentils, and whole wheat pasta ▻ Mexican style roasted corn, bell pepper & chickpea salad

More nutritious and delicious vegan recipes