For Illyna, from moose

As Cas mentioned, we hosted a little dinner party on Saturday. Since then Illyna has been pestering me (well she asked twice anyway) for the recipe for the soup. A friend of mine gave me this recipe while she was living in Japan. She claimed it had no proper name and called it soba soup. We also nicknamed it ‘murder by mochi’ as apparently it causes several deaths each year, when elderly people get large chunks of mochi stuck in their throats.

Soba soup
portion of soba noodles per person
5-7 parts dashi stock
2 parts soy sauce
1 part mirin
pinch of red pepper spice
toppings (chopped) – spring onions, boiled egg, spinach
mochi

1. Boil the soba as per packet instructions. If using egg as a topping the eggs can be boiled in the same saucepan with the soba.
2. Drain the soba and plunge into a bowl of cold water.
3. Fry the mochi in medium size pieces until brown on both sides.
4. Make the dashi stock.
5. Mix the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and red pepper spice together and bring to the boil.
6. Drain and add the soba, bring back to the boil.
7. Chop the toppings.
8. Divide the soba and mochi between individual bowls, pour over stock and add one or more toppings.

Dashi – seafood stock, can sometimes find it in asian supermarkets. If you can’t find it use vegetable or chicken stock and add a dash or two of Thai fish sauce (nam pla).
Mirin – sweet rice wine, can get it in Waitrose or asian supermarkets.
Red pepper spice – I’m not entirely sure what this is as my friend brought it with her. It adds a little extra heat and spiceyness to the soup, so I’m pretty sure you’ll get the same effect with a pinch of crushed chilli flakes.
Mochi – odd, glutinous Japanese rice cake that’s very sticky and difficult to chew. Cas liked it, but I’m not a fan. It can be found in asian supermarkets.

Okay, that’s the basic recipe. I usually leave out the mochi as I can’t always find it here, and as I said, I’m not a fan. It works just as well without. You may need to replace some of the ingredients with British versions and some of the amounts are a little vague, but it’s the kind of recipe where that really doesn’t matter.

Is it a genuine Japanese recipe? Who knows. Tastey though.

13 thoughts on “For Illyna, from moose

  1. You know, if part of the cultural lore surrounding a dish was that it killed several people a year, I probably wouldn’t eat it. 😛

  2. I was going to comment that I’m sure it’s a great recipe, but I have no idea what you’re talking about, until I saw the glossary at the bottom. Very handy. Not sure if I’ll try it though – it looks like just a bit too much work to hunt and gather the ingredients :roll:. Plus what Josh said…

  3. I did say you could leave that ingredient out! Besides, neither Cas or I died from eating it 😛

    I think it’s one of those recipes that you can subsitute the ingredients quite easily. If you can’t get soba, just use egg noodles. The dashi can be replaced with normal veggie stock, and add a little fish sauce, which is available in all the main supermarkets now, in the asian food section (which is what I did on Saturday as I didn’t have enough dashi). If you can’t find mirin, try it without. So it won’t be the exact same soup – if it tastes good, who cares?

    Here at Meadow Towers we prefer to think of recipes as guidelines rather than strict instructions. Take the basic idea and twist it however you like. Remember the Meadow Towers cooking motto – it is possible to make beef and macaroni pie without the beef or macaroni. 😆

  4. What Moose also should have pointed out is that this soup is a marvelous cold remedy (or so Neko assures me).

    And yes, the good old Meadow Towers cooking motto – not only is it possible to make beef and macaroni pie without the beef or the macaroni, it is possible to start making beef and macaroni pie and end up with chicken soup.

    I kid you not. I honestly can’t remember the last time I set out to make beef and macaroni pie and actually ended up eating beef and macaroni pie!

  5. I’ve never died of eating anything. The very idea is preposterous. I am, however, currently near death from flu, so although I understand this broth would actually be beneficial, there’s no one I can convince making it for me. I’ll have to wait and try my hand at this recipe as soon as I can breathe, think and move again.

  6. Bit off-topic but I finally received my free Penguin Classic! Hooray!
    Oh n Nils I hope you feel better soon! Some (British) will say a drink made of Bovril could do you good but I’d stick to beschuitjes with jam and a lot of herbal tea…

  7. Soup Soup
    Tasty Soup Soup
    Spicy carrot and corriander
    Chilli chowder
    Crouton Crouton
    Crunchy friends in a liquid broth
    I am gespatchio Oh!
    I am a summer soup Mmmm!
    Miso Miso
    Fighting in the dojo
    Miso Miso
    Oriental Prince in the land of soup!

  8. Nils, one of my professors swore blind by a hot toddy for a cold – basically brandy and rum heated up with a little honey.

    Soup-er soup song. But no croutons, cos they’re evil crunchy things.

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