Tempura Soba Noodle Soup
https://sudachirecipes.comTempura Soba is a classic Japanese noodle dish. Buckwheat noodles are served in a hot dashi broth and then topped with deep fried tempura shrimp and vegetables. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner!
Ingredients
Tempura
- 200 ml cold water chilled
- 100 ml sparkling water chilled
- 30 g potato starch sifted and chilled in fridge
- 150 g cake flour sifted and chilled in fridge
- cake flour for dusting
- 1 medium egg(s) chilled
- 8 giant tiger prawn or similar large prawns
- 4 fresh shiitake mushroom(s) stems removed
- 100 g eggplant(s) cut into wedges and soaked in cold water
- 8 perilla (shiso) leaves ooba/shiso
- cooking oil for deep frying
Soba
- 1000 ml dashi stock
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- ½ tsp salt
- 400 g dry soba noodles approx 100g per serving
Toppings (Optional)
- finely chopped green onions to garnish
- kamaboko fish cake
- Japanese chili powder (shichimi togarashi) (shichimi togarashi) optional
- wakame seaweed
Instructions
Prepping the Prawns
- First, deshell 8 giant tiger prawn leaving the tail on, and remove the veins.
- Place the prawns in a bowl with 2 pinches of salt and a tsp of cornstarch and rub it over the surface of the prawns. The salt is to dehydrate them so they fry better and the corn starch helps clean them.
- After a few minutes, run the prawns under cold running water to rinse off the salt and cornstarch, and pat them dry with kitchen paper.
- Next, cut the tails. Place the shrimp on its side and with the tail folded in half and trim it diagonally. The pointy tip should be cut off and be the shorter part of the diagonal. (This stops oil from splattering out when it's frying and makes a nice presentation.)
- Turn the prawn so the underbelly is facing up, and make diagonal incisions along the whole body. The incisions should be about 1cm apart and go about 1/2 way through the prawn.
Tempura
- Preheat your oil to 180 °C °C (356 °F). While you wait for it to heat up, take 200 ml cold water and 100 ml sparkling water from the fridge and pour them into a bowl.
- Add 1 medium egg(s) and whisk. Remove any foam with a spoon.
- Take 150 g cake flour and 30 g potato starch from the fridge and add it to a bowl one third at a time. Mix roughly between each addition. (It's fine to have lumps.)
- Dry your prawns and vegetables (4 fresh shiitake mushroom(s), 100 g eggplant(s), 8 perilla (shiso) leaves), then lightly coat them in potato starch or flour. Dust off any excess.
- Test your oil by adding a drop of batter, if it floats and sizzles it's ready to start cooking.Dip each ingredient in the batter and then place it in the oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the pot. (I recommend cooking each type of ingredient together in batches rather than mixing them. Example: Shiso leaves batch, aubergine batch, shrimp batch etc.) Keep the batter in the fridge between batches.
- Once the batter puffs up and becomes crispy, remove the tempura from the pot before they become golden. Place on a wire rack to allow the excess oil to drop off.
Broth
- Boil 400 g dry soba noodles in a separate pot, follow the instructions on the packaging.
- Bring 1000 ml dashi stock to a boil and then add 5 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp mirin. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat and mix in ½ tsp salt.
- Once the soba noodles are ready, pour them into a colander and then run them under cold water and divide them into serving bowls.
- Pour the broth over the noodles and arrange the tempura on top. Garnish with your choice of toppings.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Be careful not to let the tempura turn golden, real tempura is very light in color.
For specific tips on how to make crispy tempura, check the post above.