question re: soba noodles

[venus]

Cook soba in boiling water for about 5-6 minutes, like spaghetti. Make sure you cook it to al dente and not beyond. It cooks a faster than regular spaghetti and does not taste good.

If you want to add a little flavor to the noodles, cook them in fish stock, daishi or water with a little soy sauce or mirin added.

[SHERRY]

If i am thinking clearly, there was a great Japanese Beef and Noodle soup recipe a couple of years ago that use sobo noodles.

[mlou]

Soba and Udon noodles can be a bit of a challenge. They are much healthier than regular pasta so it is worth it. When they are done you definitely want to put some oil on them as they will stick together more than regular pasta.

A tip I learned is that once the water returns to a boil after you add the past, add about a cup of COLD water. This forces the heat to the center of the pasta, cooking the inside faster. Sometimes you may even want to do it twice, it is amazing how well it works and keeps you from turning the noodles to mush trying to get them cooked through.

[JJ40]

This may be a silly question, but I bought soba noodles at a bulk food store, and I don't have any directions for cooking them. How long do you cook them for?

TIA,
Julie

[Ohioan]

Well, not all soba and udon noodles are more healthful than all regular pasta. Some soba and udon have additives in them, or are made from second-rate flours, or are simply bleached and/or mishandled into nutritional nullity. Conversely, some "regular pastas" are made from high-grade flours, enriched flours, and even organic flours, with no additives except perhaps eggs (for egg noodles). Udon noodles, actually, are simply wheat-flour noodles, just like any "regular" pasta (i.e., Italian or Kluski-style).

The question about all noodles, in terms of health, is what flours have been used, what's been added to them, what's been taken out of them, and how they've been handled. Other than that, no problem. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

However, mlou is right that the best way to cook Asian noodles is to keep putting cold water into the boiling water and bringing it back to a boil. When I've been in a hurry, I've just dropped the noodles into water at a rolling boil and cooked them like ordinary noodles, but the result isn't quite as good. Good, but not as good. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Cheers, Phoebe

[venus]

I was under the impression that traditional soba noodles were made from buckwheat, which is a nutritious complex carb, and that was why they were healthy. Is this true, or have I been misinformed. Phoebe, if you know I'd love to hear!

I will have to try the cold water trick--I've never heard of it. I love these boards because they're full of information like that.

[emilycat]

I was actually going to try the Seared Tofu and Soba Noodle salad that was posted on the Vegetarian Entertaining for Phoebe thread, and I wondered, Phoebe, how to find the most nutritious soba noodles. Like venus, I also thought they were all made of buckwheat; are some more refined than others? Would I be okay just to judge them based on their fiber content?

[Ohioan]

Oh, yes, of course soba noodles are buckwheat, and any whole grain will be more healthful than a refined grain, no matter how "enriched" the polished grain is. But I think someone had mentioned udon noodles as well, and those are made of ordinary wheat flour. Anyway, I suppose even among soba noodles there'll be differences in the origin and handling of the grains; I don't know enough about them to give advice. (Korean noodles are also made of buckwheat, by the way.) And, for that matter, whole wheat "regular" pasta is made of whole grains, too.

I think I once read that the way to tell the quality of whole wheat or buckwheat noodles is to cook them and see how cloudy the water gets. The cloudier the water, the lower the quality of the flour. But of course by then it's too late, isn't it? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif

Actually, I'd guess that almost any brand of pasta, whole or refined grain, if eaten with a good variety of other foods and in moderation, is equally good for us -- as long as we're on the lookout for chemical additives and inferior handling of the package (rips in the packaging, dust, infestation, etc., yuk. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif) But when in doubt, by all means get the whole grain -- and buy from a reputable store with a fairly rapid turnover so you know the goods are fresh.

And now, having managed to sound almost as though I know what I'm talking about http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif, I'll shut up.

Cheers, Phoebe