Weekend Project: How To Make Your Own Soba Noodles

A big bowl of warm, steaming broth with tender noodles is the ultimate comfort food. Take your soul-satisfying noodle soups to the next level by making your own soba noodles! These pale brown, square-cut Japanese noodles are made with a mix of buckwheat and all-purpose flour, so they have a wonderfully nutty, earthy taste and chewy texture. Read on for our step-by-step guide to fresh soba noodles, plus a favorite recipe to try them in.

Fresh Soba Noodles Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups (6 oz./185 g.) Japanese buckwheat flour
• 3/4 cup (4 oz./125 g.) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp. kosher salt dissolved in 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz./125 ml.) water

How to Make Buckwheat Noodles

1. Make the dough
2. Knead the dough
3. Roll out dough
4. Cut into sections
5. Cut into noodles
6. Let noodles dry

 

Make the dough Fit a food processor with the metal blade and add both of the flours to the work bowl. Turn on the machine and pour the salt-water mixture through the feed tube. Process just until the mixture forms a ball of dough on top of the blade, about 30 seconds, adding 1-2 tablespoons more water, if needed.

Knead the dough Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Use the heel of one hand to push the dough away from you, then rotate it a quarter turn. Repeat, dusting with flour, until the dough feels damp but not sticky, 1-2 minutes. Shape into a ball, cover with an overturned bowl, and let rest for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Slip 3 of the pieces back under the bowl. Set the rollers of a pasta machine at the wides setting and dust with flour. Crank the dough piece through the machine. Fold into thirds and repeat. Repeat, moving the dial 1 notch narrower after each pass. Stop at the second-to-last setting.

Cut into sections Cut the pasta sheet into sections about 10 inches (25 cm.) long. Lay the sections flat on a floured baking sheet, layering them as needed and separating the layers with floured kitchen towels. Repeat step 3 to roll out the remaining dough pieces. Let the sections dry for 10-20 minutes before cutting.

Cut into noodles Secure the taglierini attachment (for strands 1/16 inch, or 2 mm. wide) onto the pasta machine and attach the crank. One at a time, insert a section of dough into the taglierini cutting blades and turn the crank to pass it through, creating strands about 1/16 inch (2 mm.) wide.

Let the noodles dry Spread the soba noodles out onto a lightly floured rimmed baking sheet and let dry for 10-20 minutes. Cook right away or coil into nests and let dry for up to 3 hours.

Recipe: Soba Noodles & Seared Salmon in Ginger-Green Onion Broth

Firm-fleshed salmon fillets make a hearty topping for a bowl of tempting buckwheat noodles and broth. Accompany with an Asian-inspired salad, such as cucumbers dressed in sesame.

Ingredients: Soba Noodle Soup

• 4 green onions
• 4 cups (32 fl. oz./1 l.) chicken broth
• 2-inch (5-cm.) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 star anise
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. mirin
• A few drops of Asian sesame oil
• 6 oz. (185 g.) fresh soba noodles
• 3/4 lb. (375 g.) center-cut salmon, cut into 4 equal pieces, skin and pinbones removed
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions: How to Cook Soba Noodles

1. Thinly slice the green onions, reserving the white and pale green parts in one bowl and the dark green parts in a separate bowl.
2. In a large, heavy pot, combine the broth, ginger, the white and pale green slices of the green onions, the star anise, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil over medium-high heat. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off, cover the pan and let steep for 10 minutes.
3. Strain the soup, discard the solids, and return the broth to the pot. Bring the broth to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook, stirring once or twice, for 2-3 minutes. Keep warm over low heat.
4. Place a small frying pan over high heat until it is very hot. Brush the salmon with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Sear the salmon to medium-rare, 4-5 minutes per side.
5. To serve, use tongs to divide the soba noodles among 4 shallow bowls. Ladle the hot broth into each bowl and top with a piece of seared salmon. Garnish with the sliced dark green onions and serve. Serves 4.

 

Find more tutorials in Williams-Sonoma The Pasta Book, by Julia della Croce (Weldon Owen, 2010).