Go Back
–+ servings

Summer Soba with Miso Meat Sauce

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 2 large portions

Ingredients 
 

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.
    cooling cooked soba noodles with ice
  • 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.
    rolling 4 okra with salt on a wooden cutting board to remove fibers
  • 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.
    sliced tomato, roughly cut eggplant and okra on a wooden cutting board
  • 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.
    ground pork in a wok with grated garlic and ginger
  • Drain the eggplant and add it to the pan. Fry until slightly softened.
    fragrant ground pork with eggplant pieces in a wok with wooden spatula
  • Add 1 ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 2 tbsp mirin and 1 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase), and mix thoroughly.
    ground pork and eggplant in a Japanese style sauce cooking in a wok
  • 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.
    tomato and okra added to ground pork and eggplant pieces in a wok
  • Drain the soba noodles and drizzle with toasted sesame oil and a crack of ground black pepper. Toss until evenly coated.
    cooked soba noodles in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl sprinkled with ground black pepper and being drizzled with toasted sesame oil
  • 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!
    Summer soba in a white dish topped with chopped green onions, bonito flakes and sliced tomatoes

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