#050 MARUCHAN Midori No Tanuki Instant Soba Bowl
Mmmm. This was quite a treat. To date, this is only the second instant soba that I’ve tried and yet again, it was mighty tasty. The broth was savory with a sweet finish. I think it’s bonito based? The soba noodles tasted like…well soba noodles? Hearty, earthy and a bit grainier in texture. The tempura puffs and tempura disc of green peas and carrots (I think?) soaked up the broth so every bite bursted with flavor. Maruchan noodles bowls have not let me down to date.
#036 MARUCHAN Tempura Soba
Often times, the deciding factor on what noodle I’ll eat is dependent on what ingredients I have available in the fridge. Then I try to match it up to the the serving suggestion pictures. On this particular day, I had left over chinese broccoli in the fridge that I wanted to use up, so I went to the noodle closet and searched for a package that had chinese broccoli or something similar. As you can see, there are some greens in the picture of this maruchan tempura soba so this was the winner! I also had some cooked frozen shrimp and thought it would go nicely with the noodles and inadvertently created my own version of de-constructed shrimp tempura soba!
Zaru Soba and Live Uni Sashimi Lunch
After a long Sunday afternoon of house shopping this was the perfect treat. We decided to take a chance and swing by Mei Wah market on Clement street to see if they had any live uni in their seafood section. We were in luck and found about 10 or so in the tank. While Anthony bagged 3 of the sea urchins I grabbed a daikon and kaiware or daikon sprouts to accompany the sashimi. On the way home we stopped by BevMo and picked up a couple bottles of arrogant bastard and another ale that’s made from the stone brewery (sooo good).
It was such a beautiful day we decided to have our late lunch in the garden. As Anthony prepared the uni, I shredded the daikon into long thin strands for the sashimi and grated some for the zaru soba. There was already a bowl of perfectly chilled soba that his mom had prepared the night before which help make this a 30 minute meal. My favorite part of eating zaru soba is the dipping sauce. I like extra wasabi and green onions in my tsuyu.
The flavor of fresh uni is the absolute best, I won’t really eat it any other way. It’s very sweet and nutty and goes very well with the kaiware’s slight bitter and spicy flavor.
Here’s a picture of the live sea urchins or uni.
This is what the inside looks like….pretty gross. There are lots of guts, membrane and LOTS of sea crap to get through before you get to the good part.
This is the good part….the edible part is actually the roe sacks of the sea urchin. This was an exceptionally big piece of uni sashimi, about the size of your tongue.
Keepin’ it chill…There are exactly 5 roe sacks in each uni.
#015 SANYO Nameko Soba
Another donation from Fanny to the noodle cause. I’m not positive what flavor these noodles are because all the words on the package are in Japanese except for the nutrition label, but I would bet money that it’s mushroom flavor. This was the first time I’ve ever tried instant soba noodles. For some reason, I woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and the first thing that I had on my mind was eating a pack of instant noodle. I suppose I felt a little guilty starting out my day with something so un-nutritious so I figured soba is a little healthier which would make it okay. I peeled back the lid to find little pebbles of seasoning, dehydrated scallions, mushrooms & fish cake. The whole mixture kinda looked like dog food. I filled the cup with hot water and covered for about 10 minutes. When I uncovered the noodles, I was amazed to see that the noodles looked just like the picture! And the best part is that it tasted good! The noodles were hearty and the rehydrated veggies tasted very fresh. The flavor of the soup had the distinct earthy flavor of mushrooms. I have to keep a look out for more Sanyo brand noodles and for other instant soba products. This is a must try if you can find it.
*Product of Japan