Hot Soba

Great on a cold night.

Ingredients:
100g soba noodles
1/4 cup soy sauce or so
2 inch piece of negi (or 1 scallion), sliced on the diagonal
1/2 packet of kombu powder or 1 4"x4" piece of dried kombu
2 dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted and chopped
3 cups or so water
1 Abura age pocket (optional) cut into strips and rinsed in boiling water

Method:
1. Boil the soba noodles until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Pour the 3 cups of water into a pot and add the dried kombu. (If using kombu powder, add later). Boil for 10 minutes or so. Remove the kombu.
3. Add the soy sauce, negi, and mushrooms (if using kombu powder, add it here too). Boil for a few minutes and add the abura age.
4. Place the noodles in a big bowl (for one person--not a serving bowl) and pour the stock over it.

Estimated nutritional info:
Energy: 180Cal, Carbs: 39g, Fat: 0g, Protein:10g

Quick Tip: Pre-cooked soba noodles are available at most grocery in Japan for less than 100 yen. I usually take a thermos of kombu/shitake dashi to work withme and pick up a packet of these on my lunch break for a quick, well-preserved meal. (I find that if I boil the noodles at home and take them with me they are either soggy, hard, or stuck together in one clump by the time I want to eat them).