Monday, February 14, 2011

Daring to do it: Soba Salad with Tempura

The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com.

I can honestly say that I never thought I would make tempura. I am a bit intimidated by the thought of deep frying, and the few times I have done it I have made a HUGE mess. Add to that the fact that home-made Asian food always seemed like it would be... complicated? Well, I am so glad that Lisa challenged us to make this combination! There was no better way to get over my hesitation than to just jump right in. Did I make a mess? Absolutely! I was cleaning up tempura batter and splashed oil for a couple of days. Was it worth it? Yes, yes, yes!!
One thing I did to make this challenge a bit more challenging for myself was to make it for some friends of mine who have spent time in Japan, and who are fans and, may I say, connoisseurs, of Asian food. I was nervous to hear their response to the meal. But sort of proud to have their high-level of knowledge and experience to help me along!
Here's how it went:

Making the soba salad was not complicated. It involved prep work, but no real assembly - everyone built their own to suit their own tastes. The noodles cooked up easily, pretty much like standard pasta. I kind of liked the fact that, once the noodles are done boiling, the directions call for the soba to go into an ice bath. It made the fact that I wanted to make the noodles early in the day a breeze - and freed up my pot for making the tempura! To accompany the noodles, and make them into a salad, I had strips of red pepper, green pepper, scallions, pan fried tofu and scrambled eggs. For the dressing/dipping sauce I had to do some improvisation. The recipes which Lisa provided looked and sounded fabulous, but called for ingredients that I don't keep in the house. So I made up my own using soy sauce, white vinegar, brown sugar, cumin and Chinese five spice powder. (I think that was all...!) Little Girl, my best kitchen helper, did a great job shaking everything up, and with that, it was time to get down to the business of tempura-ing.

For my tempura I chose a variety of vegetables that had looked good to me in the produce store. I used carrots, yellow squash, zucchini and broccoli. I was a bit nervous about the carrots cooking through, even using baby cut carrots, as tempura should only be in the oil for a minute or two so as to keep its light color and texture. So I cut them even thinner...! It was then time to make the batter. The recipe called for regular all purpose flour. No problem, right? Unbelievably, I had actually just run out of AP flour baking up dessert... So I used whole wheat flour. I was sure that there would be some sort of issue with the batter because of the switch. Nope. Not a problem in the slightest. The color was fine, the texture was good, I totally need to start using whole wheat flour more often!! Once mixed, the tempura batter bowl was put into its own ice bath. As I learned from the host and the Daring Cooks who had completed the challenge before me, one of the ways to ensure a crisp crust is to keep the veggies and batter very cold before shocking them in the hot oil. So cold is how I kept things. Other than being time consuming and messy, the frying process was easier than I thought it would be. Into the oil, watch for a minute or two, then onto a cooling rack to drain. My friend, who was keeping me company in the kitchen, commented "Wow, it looks like tempura!" when the first batch came out. (While that might not sound like a compliment, I was thinking the same thing, and her comment made me VERY proud!)


Finally it was time to assemble and eat my very first home-made Japanese (style) meal. When I tell you we all had seconds, I mean all of us - Little Girl included! This was SO good! To the point where my Asian food experts requested the recipe...!
Thank you so much, Lisa, for making me get out of my comfort zone and try a new technique. This is exactly why I joined the Daring Kitchen, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of this challenge! Please do yourself a favor and see the amazing creations assembled by my fellow Daring Cooks!

17 comments:

  1. That was a great responsibility! Making Japanese food for your friends who have lived in Japan, that was daring!! Congratulations for being so brave and for your successful soba and tempura. They look fantastic, indeed!

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  2. Hi Ruth
    Your tempura looks delicous, I agree with Renata it is hard to make food for people who have lived in that country. I did Indian for Indian friends who were homesick while travelling nerve racking to say the least

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  3. WOW you are very very daring to have Asian food for Asian friends (you are very brave!). It looks so good your final dish. And glad to hear that the tempura and noodles went down so well (seconds even) with everybody great job and bravo to you.

    Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

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  4. Lovely job on this challenge. And very daring to serve to guests on your first round! It does look just perfect!

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  5. Great job on this challenge! I think 'it looks like tempura' is a great compliment, and how wonderful that everyone loved it and asked for the recipe. I made such a huge mess with both the noodles and the tempura that I spread it over 2 days so I could clean in between!
    :)

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  6. As always - great job!!! I also had seleciot of veges for tempura - I loved broccoli and carrots!
    You had a ncie choice there! Keep the great (indeed DARING) work!
    Cheers from sunny but cold Ireland!
    Anula.
    xoxox

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  7. You done awesome job. Love both soba noodle and tempura.

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  8. It looks great! And, nice improv on the dipping sauce, it sounds fantastic.

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  9. congrats on the challenge. your tempura looks like tempura ;) i was surprised the first time i made it as well, that was my exact sentiment. the beauty of tempura is that you can make anything taste fantastic on it's own! cheers.
    veggietestkitchen
    http://veggietestkitchen.com

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  10. I know what you mean about the 'looking like tempura' comment - I'm always SO excited when something comes out looking as it should. Yours looks so fantastic. I'm glad it turned out so well and everyone enjoyed it so much.

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  11. I, too found it MESSY. Challenging, but very messy. I love being a part of DK because it forces me to stretch as a cook. Cheers!

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  12. Very well done and very intrepid of you to test the recipe on your guests (you know we all do that LOL). The tempura was a success!

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  13. Ooh, this challenge made me nervous too, but hooray for us! I really was surprised with how well it turned out (not that I doubted the recipe...just myself!). The tofu sounds like a great tempura idea. I should try that next time. Nicely done!

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  14. Now, that's the spirit..you're the epitome of a daring cook. You took the challenge head on and invited guest that knows Japanese food very well and they loved it! Wonderful job! And oh your little one loved it thats a SCORE!!!

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  15. Well done! Your tempura looks really good. I made a huge mess too.

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