The soya bean is a wonderfully versatile pulse: used to make tofu, soya milk, soy sauce and miso. Drawing inspiration from Japan, this recipe uses fresh green soya beans, together with soba noodles, wakame seaweed and tasty shiitake mushrooms, to create a stylish noodle salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tbsp dried wakame seaweed 180g soba noodles
- 150g frozen fresh soya beans (edamame beans), cooked, drained
- 1 tbsp sushi ginger, chopped
- 1 spring onion, very finely chopped
For the dressing:
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame seed oil
- 1 tbsp mirin-style seasoning 1 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
Method
1 Place the shiitake mushrooms in a heatproof bowl. Pour over enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms and set aside to soften for 20 minutes. Drain and slice, discarding the tough stalks.
2 While the mushrooms are soaking, soak the wakame seaweed in cold water for 15 minutes to rehydrate it, drain and set aside.
3 Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the soba noodles, cook for 4 minutes, drain promptly, plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process and drain again.
4 Make the dressing. Place the soy sauce, sesame seed oil, mirin-style seasoning and rice vinegar in a jar. Put the lid on the jar and shake well until combined.
5 Thoroughly toss together the noodles, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed, edamame beans, sushi ginger and spring onion. Add the dressing and toss again to mix well. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
The Kew Gardens Salad Book by Jenny Linford. Photography by Hugh Johnson (Kew Publishing, £22, order via shop.kew.org)
