Tsukimi Soba (月見そば, moon-viewing soba)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Large pot for boiling soba
• •Zaru or colander for rinsing noodles
• •Two deep donburi or soba bowls, warmed before serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the konbu

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in the cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu out when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides of the pot, before it boils. That pale bloom on the kelp is not dirt, it's flavor, and boiling the kelp leaves the stock faintly bitter and slick.

   You're steeping the konbu, not cooking it hard. The quiet heat draws out depth while keeping the dashi clear.
2. 2

   Add bonito flakes

   Bring the konbu water to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, and take the pot off the heat. Leave it alone for two or three minutes, until the flakes sink. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cloth and let it drip naturally. Don't squeeze. Squeezing presses strong, oily flavors into the dashi, and this bowl needs a clean broth.

3. 3

   Season the broth

   Measure 3 cups of the dashi into a saucepan. If you have extra, save it; if you are a little short, add water. Add the mirin and sugar, bring just to a simmer for thirty seconds, then stir in the shōyu. This is kakejiru, the hot soba broth. Taste it now. It should be a little stronger than you would drink plain, because the noodles and egg will soften it.

4. 4

   Cook the soba

   Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Add the soba and stir once with chopsticks so the strands don't clump. Cook according to the package, usually four to six minutes, tasting early. The noodles should be tender but still carrying their buckwheat bite.

5. 5

   Rinse and rewarm

   Drain the soba and rinse under cold running water, rubbing the noodles gently with your hands until the surface starch is gone and the strands feel clean. This feels strange for a hot bowl, I know, but it keeps the broth clear instead of cloudy. To rewarm, put the rinsed noodles in a sieve and pour a kettle of boiling water over them, or dip them for twenty seconds in clean boiling water.

6. 6

   Warm the bowls

   Fill two deep bowls with hot water, let them stand for a minute, then empty and dry them. A warm bowl keeps the broth hot enough to loosen the yolk at the table. Separate the egg yolks into two small cups just before serving, so you don't risk shell or a tired egg in the finished bowl.

   Use pasteurized eggs if raw yolk is a concern. If an egg smells off or the white runs watery, don't use it raw. A soft-poached egg is the sensible stand-in, but say plainly what it is.
7. 7

   Build the bowls

   Divide the hot soba between the warmed bowls and ladle the hot broth around the noodles. Make a shallow hollow in the center of each mound and slide in one yolk. Scatter the scallion and nori to one side, leaving open broth around the yolk so the moon reads clearly. Don't stir yet.

8. 8

   Serve and stir

   Carry the bowls to the table at once. Each person pierces the yolk and draws the soba through it while eating. Stirring at the table lets the yolk glaze the noodles; stirring before serving only clouds the broth and hides the point of the dish. Add a pinch of shichimi tōgarashi if you want a little heat.

Chef Tips

• •The egg is the moon, not a decoration. Buy eggs you trust and separate the yolks only at the last moment. A high, glossy yolk tells you more than any label on the carton.
• •Choose soba that smells faintly nutty when you open the package. Ni-hachi soba, about eighty percent buckwheat and twenty percent wheat, is a good balance for a hot bowl because it keeps its shape without losing buckwheat character.
• •Rinse the noodles even though you're serving them hot. Starch left on the soba muddies the broth, and tsukimi soba has nowhere to hide that mistake.
• •Don't reach for instant powder when the dashi is carrying the whole bowl. Fresh dashi takes minutes, not devotion, and gives the broth the clean edge this dish needs.
• •For a table that avoids fish but welcomes egg, make the dashi from konbu and dried shiitake. The egg means the bowl is not shōjin ryōri, temple cuisine, but the dashi itself is honmono, not a compromise.

Advance Preparation

• •The konbu can soak in the cold water overnight in the refrigerator for a gentler dashi and a faster evening cook.
• •Fresh dashi keeps two days refrigerated. Reheat it gently and season it just before making the broth.
• •The seasoned broth can be made earlier the same day. Bring it back just shy of a simmer before ladling it over the noodles.
• •Cook and rinse the soba at the last minute. Cooked soba loses fragrance and turns soft if it waits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 740g)