Homemade soba noodles in vegetable broth

Globalization has brought us delicious dishes from faraway lands, including all the pasta consumed in Japan, like these homemade soba noodles that we can prepare with the pasta attachment of the KitchenAid food processor and put in an oriental vegetable broth. Yum.

Soba is the Japanese word for buckwheat, a gluten-free pseudocereal. Buckwheat is the second most commonly used traditional grain in Japanese cuisine after rice. The traditional style of making soba noodles, called ni-hachi , typically uses a ratio of 20% wheat flour to 80% buckwheat flour.

Since buckwheat is gluten-free, the addition of wheat flour makes the pasta easier to prepare and less brittle, giving it even more body with this small proportion of gluten. Although purists prefer a higher percentage of buckwheat, because the closer the proportion is to 100%, the more intense the particular flavour that buckwheat gives it. In our recipe, the proportion is around 27% to make things easier for us… if you like the experience, you can always repeat it by increasing the proportion of buckwheat, but always at your own risk…

The traditional way of eating soba noodles is very simple; we have opted for a vegetable broth instead of the traditional dashi , which is made from fish, and some vegetable chunks as well.

Japanese soba masters say that this pasta can of course be made with an electric pasta machine like the one we used, but the trick is in the process, in the kneading and manual cutting… We don't doubt it, but we'll leave that for another day.

WMF kitchen scissors 21 cm , WMF pouring ladle , Revol round porcelain plate , KitchenAid and KitchenAid pasta attachment

Ingredients

Homemade Soba Noodles:

• 160 g buckwheat flour
• 60 g of regular wheat flour
• 115 ml of water

Broth accompaniment:

• 600 ml of homemade vegetable broth
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 good splash of sunflower or olive oil
• 3 tbsp. tamari sauce
• 100 g of mushrooms
• 2 carrots
• Chives to taste

Elaboration

Homemade Soba Noodles

1. Weigh the flour and sift it through a strainer if it's whole wheat like I used; this way you'll avoid the tears that the bran can cause when rolling and cutting the noodles. If you want to use it all, pass the bran through a clean coffee grinder and return the finely ground bran to the flour.
2. Put both flours in the bowl of a food processor (with the paddle attachment, if you're using a KitchenAid ) and mix them together. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together. If it doesn't come together, you may need to add some water to adjust, as each flour is different and has a different absorption capacity.
3. You should have a soft dough that feels moist, but not sticky. Shape it into a cake, put it in a plastic bag and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4. If you are making the pasta with a rolling pin , flour the table thoroughly, roll it out to a thickness of 1.5 mm and fold it into thirds, like letter paper, and cut it finely into long spaghetti.
5. If you're using the KitchenAid pasta maker attachment , divide the dough into thirds, keeping the unrolled portion in the bag, and pass the dough through the dough roller several times on setting 1. Once you have a strip of even width (more or less), change the attachment, lightly dust the pasta strip on both sides with flour, as well as the pasta attachment itself, start the mixer and form the noodles. Be careful because the dough is fragile and the weight of the pasta itself can cause the noodles to break. Flour the formed noodles again lightly so they don't stick together.
6. Group the formed noodles into nests and, if you are not going to cook them immediately, freeze them in zip-top bags.

Broth accompaniment

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and sauté them in the oil.
2. Add the broth, thinly sliced ​​carrots or sticks, thinly sliced ​​mushrooms and soy sauce, and cook until the vegetables are tender.

Mounting the dish

1. When the broth is ready, cook the noodles in plenty of water, in a separate saucepan without salt, until they are al dente, about 2-3 minutes, tasting them.
2. Drain the soba noodles well and cool them under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly and divide into 4 bowls or plates.
3. Pour the hot broth over the soba noodles, garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.

If you are a fan of Japanese cuisine, you will love these homemade soba noodles, which are much more aromatic than the store-bought ones. I am sure that a Japanese soba master would have many objections to them… but we are happy to accept them.

KitchenAid pasta attachment