Korean Cold Soba Salad with Baked Fish
Soba
Soba means buckwheat in Japanese. In Korean, buckwheat is called 메밀국수 (memil-guksu). This dish is technically inspired by my Korean mother-in-law who is an Adventist and a vegetarian. I never care as much about soba noodles until I tried her simple recipe one day. She is not the greatest cook but this was an easy dish she made for me and her son one day.
She boiled a pot of water, added some dry soba noodles. While that boils, she started cutting up some vegetables — whatever she had in her refrigerator — bell peppers, tomatoes, avocado, a couple types of kimchi including Napa kimchi and a chive kimchi. Boiled a few eggs in the same soba pot. When the noodles were done, she chilled them in ice water, drain and mixed it with all the cut vegetables. For flavor, she squeezed lemon juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. That was it! It was delicious…
So… I recreated it.
Is soba gluten free?
There are so many soba packaging out there that include wheat, rice, corn starch, tapioca starch, and so on. If they include wheat or other gluten-containing grains, it is not gluten free. I always look for soba noodles that are made with 100% buckwheat.
Here are a couple 100% buckwheat/soba noodles you can find at the store:
100% buckwheat noodles from Target
Kajino Jyuwari Soba from Weee! — Weee! is one of my favorite online Asian grocery store. Use my referral link to get $20 off your next 2 orders, and I will get $20 off mine as well!
Japanese vs Korean Buckwheat Noodles
The differences come from the way the noodles are prepared and how they taste like, texture wise. Japanese soba tastes silkier and more delicate whereas Korean memil-guksu has a rougher (or rustic) texture but both can be served cold or hot depending on the dish.
Ingredients
Makes 2-3 servingssoba noodles 2 dime size amount (when grabbing with your thumb and second finger as measurement)
½ bell pepper, sliced
¼ - ½ Korean pear (optional), sliced to match sticks
1 tomato, cut to wedges
½ lemon
4 cups salad greens like spinach, kale, and/or lettuces
½ packet of stackable seaweed (I use the ones from Costco)
¼ cup kimchi, chopped
2 salmon filets
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
3-4 Tbsp ponzu sauce
1-2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
1. Boil and chill soba
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add soba noodles and cook for 4-6 minutes or as stated per your packaging instructions. Prepare a large bowl of ice bath with a straining bowl over. See video for reference. When soba is done cooking, drain soba in the straining bowl. Rinse with cold tap water for 20 seconds or submerge the soba in the ice bath. Let sit until ready for use.
2. Bake salmon
Lay both filets on a baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper and drizzle olive oil on both sides. Then bake in air fryer at 390’F for 9 minutes or in the oven at 400’F for 10 minutes. When done, set aside.
3. Prepare vegetables
Cut up all your favorite salad vegetables and fruit, and add to a large salad bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice and pour over the vegetables in the salad bowl. Shred seaweed into the bowl.
4. Mix noodles
Add soba noodles to the bowl of vegetables, along with ponzu sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Mix well!
5. Serve and enjoy!
Top with baked salmon and start slurping!
Dietitian Notes
Each serving: 550-600 cal | 45 g carb | 30-40 g protein | 30 g fat
Nutritional value varies depending on how many ounces your fish is and the brand of noodles used.
Soba/buckwheat noodles have a significant amount of protein. Did you know every cup of cooked soba noodles have 6g of protein and 2-3g of fiber to offer? It is a very nutritious noodle choice.
Tips & Variations
Protein:
boiled egg
air fried tofu
grilled steak
boiled/baked/grilled chicken
baked seabass or cod
