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“I don’t do much with soba noodles but it’s very tasty, easy to cook and good summer cuisine. Yummy.”
– Kathleen
What do you get when summer vegetables, miso, and soba noodles walk into a bowl?
A surprisingly simple dish with craveable depth and not a single unfamiliar step. This cold noodle bowl blends crisp, juicy tomatoes with garlicky meat sauce and just a touch of miso to create that “how is this so easy?” moment.
While other summer dishes might leave you craving something more substantial, this soba bridges the gap between light and satisfying. The bold miso flavor develops in just minutes.
Key Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Soba noodles: Unlike udon or ramen, dry soba noodles cook up beautifully, so no need to hunt for fresh ones. Their nutty, earthy flavor pairs perfectly with the meat sauce and crisp vegetables, making them a go-to for no-sweat summer meals.
- Miso paste: I used yellow awase miso for a mellow, balanced umami, but red miso brings deeper richness if you’re into bold flavors. If you’ve got red and white separately, mix them 50/50 and you’ll get the best of both worlds.
- Ground pork: This is the base of the savory miso sauce. Feel free to swap in ground beef or a pork-beef blend depending on what’s in your fridge. It’s flexible and still delivers that craveable richness.
- Vegetables: I chose classic Japanese summer vegetable trio, but feel free to use what’s local and in season where you live. Freshness is key here.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make this soba dish at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
This section aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the cooking steps and techniques with visuals. It also includes more in-depth tips and tricks and explains why I do what I do.
Start by cooking dried soba noodles. You can just follow the timing recommended on the packaging.
While the noodles bubble away, wash your vegetables. Slice half the tomatoes into thin rounds for garnish, and chop the rest into rough chunks. Roughly cut the eggplant and let it soak in water.
For the okra, trim off the stems.
Then rub the pods with salt on a cutting board.
This quick “salt scrub” removes fuzz and improves the texture.
When the soba’s ready, drain and rinse it under cold water to wash off the starch. Give it a final chill in ice water until it’s cool to the core.
Heat a large pan or wok over medium-high heat until you can feel the warmth radiating from the surface. Add cooking oil along with your ground pork, salt, and freshly grated garlic and ginger.
Sauté until the meat browns and crisps a little. It should smell rich and savory.
Once the pork is beautifully browned, add your drained eggplant chunks and stir-fry until they start to soften and absorb those meaty flavors. When the eggplant feels little tender, add in your soy sauce, mirin, and yellow miso paste.
Mash the miso against the side of the pan with your spatula to break up any lumps before stirring everything together.
Toss in the tomato chunks and okra pieces. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens slightly and clings to everything. Watch for the tomatoes to break down and release their juices.
When you drag the spatula across the bottom of the pan and the sauce holds its shape for a moment before flowing back together, you’ve hit the perfect consistency. Remove from heat immediately.
Half go in raw for juicy brightness, half get cooked for deeper sweetness. This hot-cold contrast makes every bite interesting.
Lift your chilled soba from the ice water and drain thoroughly in a colander, give it a gentle shake to remove excess water. Toss the cold noodles with a drizzle of sesame oil and a crack of black pepper, using your hands or tongs to coat every strand.
This oil coating prevents the noodles from clumping and adds a subtle nutty richness that complements the miso flavors beautifully.
Noodles are prone to “starch retrogradation”, in other words sticking together and loosing their smooth texture. A touch of sesame oil creates a protective barrier that slows it down, ensuring your noodles are silky smooth and don’t clump together.
Divide the soba into bowls and spoon the warm miso pork sauce over top. Tuck the tomato slices to the side, then sprinkle with chopped scallions and a generous handful of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). Finish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil.
The warm topping releases aroma the second it hits the chilled noodles. Don’t skip that final sizzle of oil!
Essential Tips & Tricks
- Rinse and ice the soba thoroughly to prevent sticky clumps and ensure a cool, springy bite.
- Brown the pork deeply. This step builds the umami base of the dish.
- Toss the noodles with sesame oil after chilling to keep them silky and separate.
- Use both raw and cooked tomatoes for a dynamic contrast of taste and temperature.
- Serve immediately after assembly. Letting it sit kills the temperature contrast that makes this dish special.
With these simple tips in mind, you’re set for success every time you make this soba dish.
Meal Prep & Storage
This cold soba with miso pork sauce isn’t ideal for full meal prep, but the miso pork component can definitely be made ahead to save time.
Make the miso pork sauce up to 3 days in advance. Cook it fully, let it cool, and refrigerate in an airtight container. When ready to eat, simply reheat until warm and serve over freshly cooked, chilled soba noodles and raw garnishes.
Cook the soba fresh for best texture, and slice tomatoes right before serving for maximum brightness.
Serving Suggestions
I hope you enjoy this Soba Noodles recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Japanese Noodle Recipes
- Zaru Soba (Cold Buckwheat Noodles with Homemade Dipping Sauce)
- Nagasaki Champon Ramen Noodles (Ringer Hut Style)
- Taiwan Mazesoba (Nagoya’s Spicy Brothless Ramen)
- 15 Minute Spicy Tsukemen (Dipping Ramen)
Want more inspiration? Explore my Noodle Recipe Roundup for a carefully selected collection of tasty recipe ideas to spark your next meal!
Summer Soba with Miso Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 ptns dry soba noodles 80g-100g per portion
- ice cubes
- 4 okra about 12g each
- salt
- 1 tomato medium, about 100g each
- 1 eggplant about 100g each
- 1 tsp cooking oil for cooking
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1 tsp ginger root grated
- 100 g ground pork or beef
- 1 ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase)
- toasted sesame oil
- ground black pepper to taste
- finely chopped green onions optional garnish
- bonito flakes (katsuobushi) optional garnish
My recommended brands of ingredients and seasonings can be found in my Japanese pantry guide.
Can’t find certain Japanese ingredients? See my substitution guide here.
Instructions
- First, boil 2 ptns dry soba noodles as instructed on the packaging. Once cooked, drain and wash the noodles under cold water. Place in a bowl of water with ice cubes to cool.
- Place 4 okra on a cutting board and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Rub the surface with your palms to remove any fuzz.
- Cut 1 tomato in half. Thinly slice one half and roughly cut the other. Roughly cut 1 eggplant and place it in a bowl of cold water to prevent discoloration. Cut the okra into thick pieces.
- Heat a pan on medium and add 1 tsp cooking oil. Once the oil shimmers, add 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp ginger root and 100 g ground pork. Season with a pinch of salt and stir fry until the pork is cooked through.
- Drain the eggplant and add it to the pan. Fry until slightly softened.
- Add 1 ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 2 tbsp mirin and 1 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase), and mix thoroughly.
- Add the okra and roughly cut tomato, then continue to stir fry until the liquid has reduced and thickened. Once it coats the vegetables, remove the pan from the heat.
- Drain the soba noodles and drizzle with toasted sesame oil and a crack of ground black pepper. Toss until evenly coated.
- Divide the noodles between serving plates and top with the miso meat sauce. Garnish with the tomato slices, some finely chopped green onions and bonito flakes (katsuobushi). Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- The miso meat sauce is intentionally concentrated, so toss everything together well to distribute the bold flavors evenly throughout each bite.
- If you only have red miso and white miso at home, mix them in equal 50:50 proportions to achieve the balanced flavor profile that yellow miso provides.
- Make it vegetarian-friendly by using vegan miso paste and switching the meat out for tofu or a plant-based alternative.
- Feel free to customize the dish with other summer vegetables such as bell peppers, zucchini or cucumber, etc!
- Serving ideas: Cucumber Sunomono, Wakame Seaweed Salad, Salt-Boiled Edamame, Japanese Potato Salad
The dish looks very appetizing! I will definitely prepare this.
Hi Laurence, thank you!
Hallo 🙂
I think this recipe is successful.
I don’t do much with soba noodles but it’s very tasty, easy to cook and good summer cuisine.
Yummy.
Thank you Yuto. Bis bald.
Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for sharing your experience and picture! Looking great as usual! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Yuto