Soba As a Judge

It's a good thing in life to experiment and to find out how things are made by having a go yourself. Sometimes, as with bread, pasta, stock and so on, it's much better to make your own. And sometimes, it's better left to experts, or people with big machines. I broke my food processor making almond butter and almonds aren't cheap. Far more expensive and time consuming that just buying a jar of the bloody stuff.The same goes for soba noodles. Just buy them. It's much easier than making them by hand as I did. Which is now on the list with almond butter. Buckwheat flour is a tricky flour to work with as it has no gluten in it, so you need to meditate for a few years by a wintery mountain stream before you have sufficient expertise to make noodles with it.Honestly, it's not worth the bother.I would, however, make my own miso if I had the stuff, as Yuki from Yuki's Kitchen here in Crystal Palace does. But, a good jar of miso paste (I like Clearspring Organic) will keep forever in the fridge, and a spoonful of that, boiling water, some noodles and a few sprouting seeds is a delicious and quick cleansing, earthy dish. I often have a mug of miso instead of tea or coffee first thing in the morning.Try and buy pure buckwheat noodles. Some have wheat flour in them because it's easier to make it that way, but it's a bit of a cheat. A few prawns are a good addition for some extra protein and flavour, but I like to keep this dish pure and simple. It's pretty good for a low calorie day.Ingredients40g soba noodles1-2tbsp miso paste depending on taste1 handful of alfalfa sprouts or similarMethodBoil the noodles in water until cooked then drain, keeping the waterAdd the miso paste to the water and whisk well until it dissolves.Add the noodles and sprouts to a bowl, top with the miso soup and serve.