Peanut Soba Noodles with Sprout Salad, Chopped Veggies and Miso Grilled Chicken

Soba Noodle Salad

  • Soba Noodle Salad
  • Soba Noodle Salad
  • Soba Noodle Salad

NOTES

Very filling and makes great leftovers. If you skip the chicken, this is a perfect vegan meal.  This is basically 3 salads in one, a variety bowl, if you will. It takes some time, and specialty Asian ingredients, but nothing that you won’t find useful in your pantry.

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients for chicken marinade, whisking to dissolve any clumps of Miso paste. Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts. Add to a bowl with marinade, cover and put in the fridge for 1/2 hour or more. Pour 1 tbs peanut oil into a grill pan, use a paper towel to coat the pan and make sure there are no dry spots. When pan is hot, add the chicken, cover and cook on each side for about 10-15 minutes. Do not flip prematurely. When chicken is no longer pink on the inside (you can check by making a tiny incision in the thickest part of the breast), remove from heat, and allow to cool on a cutting board while you prepare the rest of the salad. If you wait for the meat to cool before slicing, the juices will stay inside and not run out immediately, resulting in a moister breast.

Wash and spin both types of sprouts. Mix them together with your fingers, breaking up the alfalfa. Slice off ends of one green onion, slice in half lengthwise, chop into 1/8” pieces, add to a bowl with the sprouts.

Skin 1/2 of the daikon and cut into 1/4” – 1/2” cubes. Remove tops and seeds from jalapeno and bell peppers. Cut in 1/4” – 1/2” pieces. Mix with daikon. Slice off ends of green onion, slice in half lengthwise, chop into 1/8” pieces, add to the cubed vegetable mixture.

Toast sesame seeds in a skillet on stovetop until the white seeds start to turn golden brown. Toss in bowl with diced vegetables.

Mince ginger and muddle with a mortar and pestle. Add ginger to a paper coffee filter and squeeze juice through and back into your mortar (or another bowl but it will be one thing less to wash). Add the remaining dressing ingredients, and whisk in oils with a fork to combine.

Toss diced veggies with 1/2 of your dressing, sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to sit while you make your peanut sauce (you will dress the sprout salad at the end).

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a medium sized pot with 1 tsp kosher salt.

While you wait for water to reach boil, make your peanut sauce.

In a small saucepan or a cast iron pan, add your water and peanut butter and allow to reach a simmer. Mix the peanut butter to dissolve. Add vinegar and Tamari, and mix to combine. If your sauce thickens too much while on the heat, add more water. If it seems too runny, allow the sauce to cook down for an additional minute or two. It should be pourable, and completely coat a finger when dipped.

Dress your sprouts just before you cook the noodles, add sea salt to taste. Cut chicken into 1/2” cubes, set aside.

When water reaches a rolling boil, Add small bundles of the noodles at a time, separating gently by stirring with a fork.  Cook for 5 minutes or so. You want them to be firm-tender.  Taste the noodles to make sure they are firm, not mushy.

Rinse noodles with cold water to stop cooking, transfer to mixing boil and add peanut sauce, mix well (chopsticks are good for this). If your sauce has cooled, it will have thickened, don’t worry, the water in the noodles with thin it out again.

Compose each person’s bowl individually with with a pile of noodles, a pile of diced veggies, a pile of sprouts, and pile of chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves, fried garlic and onion. You can add more cilantro if you are a cilantro fan like me, or just use it as garnish.

Serve with chopsticks and Japanese beer.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

HARD

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SERVES

2

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PREP TIME

35 MINS

Grilled Chicken

  • 1 
     
    organic, free-range skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 
     
    tangerine, juiced
  • 1/2 
     
    tangerine, zested
  • 1 
    tbs 
    white miso paste
  • 1/2 
     
    lime, juiced
  • 1/2 
    tsp 
    peanut oil

Salad

  • 1/2 
     
    medium daikon radish
  • 2 
    cups 
    alfalfa sprouts
  • 2 
    cups 
    sunflower sprouts
  • 1/2 
     
    yellow Bell Pepper
  • 1/2 
     
    red bell pepper
  • 2 
     
    green onions, ends trimmed
  • 1/2 
    tbs 
    white sesame seeds
  • 1/2 
    tbs 
    black sesame seeds

Dressing

  • 2" - 3" 
     
    piece of fresh ginger root
  • 1/2 
    lime 
    juiced
  • 1/2 
     
    tangerine, juiced
  • 2 
    tsp 
    sweetened Mirin rice wine vinegar
  • 1 
    tsp 
    maple syrup
  • 1 
    tbs 
    toasted sesame oil (this is different than regular sesame oil, much more flavor)
  • 1 
    tbs 
    peanut oil or regular sesame oil

Peanut Noodles

  • 1/2  
    package 
    Buckwheat Soba noodles
  • 1 
    tsp 
    kosher salt
  • 1/4 
    cup  
    water
  • 1 
    tbs 
    rice wine vinegar
  • 2 
    tbs 
    crunchy peanut butter
  • 1/2 
    tsp 
    Tamari
  • 1 
    tbs 
    fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed
  • 1  
    tsp 
    fried onion
  • 1 
    tsp 
    fried garlic
  •  
     
    salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients for chicken marinade, whisking to dissolve any clumps of Miso paste. Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts. Add to a bowl with marinade, cover and put in the fridge for 1/2 hour or more. Pour 1 tbs peanut oil into a grill pan, use a paper towel to coat the pan and make sure there are no dry spots. When pan is hot, add the chicken, cover and cook on each side for about 10-15 minutes. Do not flip prematurely. When chicken is no longer pink on the inside (you can check by making a tiny incision in the thickest part of the breast), remove from heat, and allow to cool on a cutting board while you prepare the rest of the salad. If you wait for the meat to cool before slicing, the juices will stay inside and not run out immediately, resulting in a moister breast.

Wash and spin both types of sprouts. Mix them together with your fingers, breaking up the alfalfa. Slice off ends of one green onion, slice in half lengthwise, chop into 1/8” pieces, add to a bowl with the sprouts.

Skin 1/2 of the daikon and cut into 1/4” – 1/2” cubes. Remove tops and seeds from jalapeno and bell peppers. Cut in 1/4” – 1/2” pieces. Mix with daikon. Slice off ends of green onion, slice in half lengthwise, chop into 1/8” pieces, add to the cubed vegetable mixture.

Toast sesame seeds in a skillet on stovetop until the white seeds start to turn golden brown. Toss in bowl with diced vegetables.

Mince ginger and muddle with a mortar and pestle. Add ginger to a paper coffee filter and squeeze juice through and back into your mortar (or another bowl but it will be one thing less to wash). Add the remaining dressing ingredients, and whisk in oils with a fork to combine.

Toss diced veggies with 1/2 of your dressing, sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to sit while you make your peanut sauce (you will dress the sprout salad at the end).

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a medium sized pot with 1 tsp kosher salt.

While you wait for water to reach boil, make your peanut sauce.

In a small saucepan or a cast iron pan, add your water and peanut butter and allow to reach a simmer. Mix the peanut butter to dissolve. Add vinegar and Tamari, and mix to combine. If your sauce thickens too much while on the heat, add more water. If it seems too runny, allow the sauce to cook down for an additional minute or two. It should be pourable, and completely coat a finger when dipped.

Dress your sprouts just before you cook the noodles, add sea salt to taste. Cut chicken into 1/2” cubes, set aside.

When water reaches a rolling boil, Add small bundles of the noodles at a time, separating gently by stirring with a fork.  Cook for 5 minutes or so. You want them to be firm-tender.  Taste the noodles to make sure they are firm, not mushy.

Rinse noodles with cold water to stop cooking, transfer to mixing boil and add peanut sauce, mix well (chopsticks are good for this). If your sauce has cooled, it will have thickened, don’t worry, the water in the noodles with thin it out again.

Compose each person’s bowl individually with with a pile of noodles, a pile of diced veggies, a pile of sprouts, and pile of chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves, fried garlic and onion. You can add more cilantro if you are a cilantro fan like me, or just use it as garnish.

Serve with chopsticks and Japanese beer.

Full disclosure: I made this salad for my friend Alex last Saturday night, but we were a few drinks deep and starving by the time we got down to cooking… a recipe for a food photography disaster. The meal was so satisfying, I vowed to make it again when there were fewer distractions in the kitchen (thanks Alex).

This morning my friend Thyra Heder, the writer/illustrator of the recent runaway hit children’s book, Fraidyzoo, called to ask if she could come over to sketch my famously adorable puppy, Lucy. Thyra lives in the neighborhood, and adopted her dog just before we adopted ours, so we spend most early mornings together in the park, trying desperately to train our devastatingly cute, but challenging pets, personifying them and extolling their praises.  She mentioned that Lucy was the inspiration for her new illustrated book, but I could only hope she would follow through and share this scruffy face with the world. I was happy to cook while Thyra attempted to sketch a wiggling puppy who was all but bouncing off the walls. Ok, still distracting, but at least we both had work to do.

There is a lot going on in this salad – homegrown sprouts, homemade peanut sauce, grilled chicken, and noodles. Feel free to skip the chicken, I don’t think you will miss it (though it is a delicious preparation to save for later).

I grew the alfalfa sprouts and I suggest you try this, though it obviously complicates matters. I think they are great thing to get in the habit of making in the winter when produce is scarce. It is like having the world’s smallest garden on your kitchen counter, and they are extra healthy because they are a “living food.” You can buy alfalfa seeds online or at a health food store, and this is a good description of how to grow them. The fried onion and garlic can be bought at any Asian grocery store, and once you try these, you will want to put them on everything, Asian or not. They are definitely the icing on the cake, and worth seeking out, but if don’t have them on hand, the salad will still hold its own. (You can make your own, but now we are getting carried away)