spicy soba noodles with shiitakes and cabbage

moving cross country is a great way to force yourself to get rid of stuff. one of my projects in preparation for the move was sorting through piles upon piles of cooking magazines and ripping out the recipes i wanted keep before tossing the rest. it felt great at the time cause i found a lot of forgotten recipes that i wanted to try...but now here they are in a folder in san francisco forgotten again. though every now and then i remember to flip through them and swear that one day i will make it through them all! one at a time, one at a time....

i think of this as a sort of fancier version of our sesame noodles. in this recipe the scallions and cabbage are cooked but still keep a nice crunch. i loved the addition of edamame which added a nice little bite, and shiitakes....well...they're always good in my book! this recipe is definitely a winner and quick and easy enough for a weeknight meal. we also had tons leftover and it was delicious cold for lunch.

spicy soba noodles with shiitakes and cabbage
(from gourmet, august 2007)
ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons korean hot-pepper paste*
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (i used black ones cause we have tons of them)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
10 oz shiitakes, stemmed and thinly sliced
1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
6 scallions, thinly sliced
8 to 9 oz soba noodles
1 cup frozen shelled edamame

stir together water, soy sauce, hot-pepper paste and brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.

toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring until pale golden. transfer to a small bowl.

heat oil over medium-high heat and saute ginger and garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. add shiitakes and saute, stirring frequently, until tender and starting to brown, about 6 minutes. reduce heat to medium, then add cabbage and most of the scallions (reserve a few for garnish) and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. add sauce and simmer a couple more minutes.

while cabbage is cooking, cook soba and edamame together in boiling salted water until noodles are just tender (check package cooking times). drain in colander and rinse with cold water then drain again. transfer to a large bowl and toss with sesame seeds and vegetable mixture. sprinkle with reserved scallions.

*we actually had a big tub of korean hot-pepper paste in the fridge that our neighbors gave us when they moved! i was excited to see this in the recipe as i had never used it before. well...i dug it out of the fridge only to discover it expired a year ago. i hadn't be opened but....i didn't want to risk it. so i used red curry paste instead. not the same i know but dinner was yummy so who cares.

-d