I love a soba noodle salad and this one is a very surprising combination of vegetables and flavors. Soba noodles with eggplant and mango! Who would have thought they’d go together? The dressing is sharp and sweet with rice vinegar, lime, garlic and fresh chilies. It really brings together the flavors of the roasty eggplant and sweet mango. I found this one in Ottolenghi’s Plenty cookbook, which I discovered long ago working at a healthy food concept restaurant. I’d forgotten how wonderful this cookbook is since it’s been years since I’ve flicked through it. It was the first Ottolenghi book that made me fall in love with his recipes.
Benefits of eating soba noodles.
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If your diet is gluten free, soba noodles may be able to be tolerated. 100% buckwheat noodles are technically gluten free, since buckwheat is actually a grass and not a grain. Soba noodles are either all buckwheat or made with a blend of buckwheat and flour. So, seek out 100% buckwheat noodles made in a gluten free facility if you eat gluten free. The other benefit is that they are delicious! Nutty with a nice chew, buckwheat noodles have been eaten in asian countries for centuries. In fact, in Japan, there are many soba noodle masters who work for years to perfect making the best soba noodles.
The Video.
How to cook soba noodles properly.
Properly cooked soba noodles are a pleasure to eat. First off, read the label of your soba noodles. I find that the cooking times are generally a little bit off most of the time. So, the first time you cook them, start taste testing them a few minutes before the stated cook time. You want a little bit of a chew left in them or al dente texture. Cook them in plenty of boiling water. After dropping the noodles in, stir them to submerge and make sure they don’t stick. Unlike Italian pasta, you do not need to salt the water. There is usually plenty of salt in the noodles themselves.
After cooking, drain in a colander and rinse the noodles under cold, running water. In addition to rinsing, you’ll want to get your hands in there and swish the noodles around. This ensures that you wash any starch that may be clinging onto the noodles that may cause them to stick.
A soba noodle salad with so many flavors!
I love the flavors in this soba noodle salad. Musky eggplant, sweet and tropical mango, red onion and fresh herbs make the basis of this salad. All tossed together with nutty soba noodles and an acidic, sweet and spicy (if you want) dressing and you have an exciting salad just exploding with flavors and textures. This is also a great dish to serve for a barbecue or outdoor picnic as it’s served cold and holds up well. I would just wait to dress it right before serving.
My thoughts on the cookbook Plenty by Ottolenghi.
I think this is my FAVORITE Ottolenghi cookbook. Others may disagree but I’m going to stand by this. I’ve made many recipes from his Simple cookbook, as well as a few other titles. His latest book Flavour, while very inventive, did not actually make me want to cook from it so much. Things sounded delicious but the recipes in Plenty actually seem more straightforward, simple and creative to me. They are recipes that I would actually want to cook on a weeknight and seem to wow me with his inventiveness. Check it out at the library and give it a read through yourself!
Soba Noodle Salad with Eggplant and Mango
Ingredients
For the Noodle Salad
- 2 medium eggplants (or 1 large eggplant- about 14 oz/400g)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable, olive or coconut oil (for cooking)
- 6 ounces (175 g) soba noodles (100% buckwheat if making this gluten free)
- 1 large mango, ripe, thinly sliced or cubed
- ½ cup (20 g) basil, thinly sliced
- ½ cup (20 g) cilantro, roughly chopped (or parsley, if preferred)
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
For the Dressing
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- 2½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic, grated or minced
- ½ a red chili, finely chopped (optional)
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of 1 lime
Method
- Make the dressing. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk until sugar and salt are dissolved. Set aside.
- Dice eggplant to ¾ inch cubes. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the oil. Add enough to just coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the eggplant. Cook, stirring often, until eggplant is soft and lightly golden on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add to a large bowl.
- While eggplant is cooking, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and stir to separate. Cook according to package instructions. (I highly recommend taste testing for doneness a couple of minutes before the time listed.) Drain well and rinse under cold, running water. Using your hands, swish the noodles while rinsing to remove excess starch. Drain well and add to the large bowl with the eggplant.
- Add the mango, herbs and red onion to the bowl. Dress the noodle salad with about half the dressing. Toss to combine. Taste and add more dressing, if needed. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side. Leftovers keep well for 2 days in the refrigerator. Redress with any leftover dressing before eating.
Notes
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This looks so delicious! I already added all the ingredients to my grocery shopping list. Can’t wait to try it!
Hope you like it!
Thanks for sharing this soba noodle salad recipe! The dressing sounds amazing! I also appreciate the tips so that the sob noodles don’t stick together.
The dressing works great for any other kind of salad too. I love it on a cucumber salad. Enjoy!
Thanks for sharing. We are gluten free so I am always look for new recipes. I’ll have to check out the cook book, thank you for giving a review along with the recipe.
No problem! Always here for a good cookbook.