Soba is pretty awesome.
(I had to go into MS Word to make the apostrophe slant the right way.)
For the broth: shiitake, garlic, ginger, sugar, and soy sauce. Although the recipe doesn’t call for it, I added some anise because I figured it would go well with that blend of seasoning. Trust me on this. I’m Asian; I have a sense for these things.
I was skeptical about a broth based on soy sauce, but this smells pretty good. Actually, this is the exact same blend of seasoning I used for the meat, minus the wine.
Meanwhile: more pressed tofu. This is a different brand than the one that’s been featured in previous entries. It’s got these air bubbles inside; I’m not sure whether they’re an artifact of the manufacturing process particular to this brand or of the fact that I froze them. Anyway, slice. i thought about lightly frying it, but decided to be lazy and just threw it in the broth for a couple minutes. It just needs to be hot; pressed tofu is cooked already.
Zen plate! Not pictured in the process: I found some dry seaweed in my cupboard, which I hydrated and tucked under the shiitake. Throw some green onion over it, and done.
Final moneyshot:
I’m not sure if the sesame seeds are a good touch. It’s a distracting. Almost too garish. The version without is simpler. On the other hand, it’s also a little boring.
Bonus: leftovers
(I figured out how to get a crisp image: you have to pull the camera back a little so it can focus, and zoom in.)
