Soba Noodle

In this date-night meal, mussels and clams get tangled up in strands of nutty buckwheat noodles soaking in a briny, garlicky, and ever-so-slightly-spicy broth.

Japanese cuisine tends to be mild on the whole, but this noodle soup, piri kara soba, has a real kick to it.

Thinly sliced duck breast seared with leeks starts this beautiful bowl of noodle soup called kamo soba.

The secret to this flavorful soba noodle recipe is adding a paste made from chiles and garlic to a fresh and lively basil-cilantro pesto. The heat doesn’t overpower the palate, but it wakes up the other elements of salt, acid, fat, and freshness.

Nutritional yeast adds a hit of umami that plays well with earthy kale and buckwheat noodles. We suggest using curly kale, which roasts into light, crispy chips.

It's worth seeking out smoked or baked tofu for this dish—its chewy texture and rich flavor make it a perfect partner for nutty soba noodles.

For the best springy texture that won’t fall apart when tossed, look for soba noodles that contain a blend of wheat and buckwheat.

A simple dish of soba noodles tossed with poached chicken, chili oil, soy sauce, and scallions.

Kimchi is an incredibly flavorful ingredient to use in stews, dressings, and wraps and sandwiches. The amount you use is dependent on how strong it is. Use you tastebuds as a guide, adding more if you need.

This cooling soba salad has a creamy, savory dressing flavored with tahini, miso, rice vinegar, and sriracha. Jicama matchsticks add crunch, while avocado contributes richness.

This fortifying Japanese soup starts with a homemade dashi—stock made from seaweed and bonito flakes—which gives the dish a light, savory flavor.

This simple pasta uses gluten-free buckwheat noodles to complement blanched veggies and a savory sauce for an easy weeknight dinner.

For this noodle bowl, I took inspiration from Heidi Swanson’s Black Sesame Otsu in Super Natural Every Day, in which a blanket of black sesame seeds is toasted until it smells heady, then pounded with a mortar and pestle and combined with some Asian pantry staples to make a thick, savory, and tangy dressing, here given a bit more punch with wasabi. Like other cold noodle dishes, this is a good dish for packing up, and in my experience has been wonderful on the beach. The shredded egg and wisps of radish incorporate into the noodles, the shallot brings crunch and zing, and the final drizzle of kecap manis—the Indonesian soy sauce— brings the whole bowl together in the most satisfying way.

The buckwheat in soba is nutritious and a good source of fiber (and it's flavorful, too).

White miso might sound like the kind of ingredient that sends you in search of a specialty store, but in fact it is the most common type of miso paste, and you're likely to find it in the international or Asian food section of the supermarket. It's a lighter, sweeter alternative to dark miso, which is generally used in soup, and it often appears in dressings like the one for this easy Japanese noodle salad. You can make the dressing in the time it takes to cook the soba, and if you add some thinly sliced cooked chicken, beef, or shrimp, you'll have a one-dish meal.

We like skirt steak because it's a tasty and affordable cut. Slice it thinly so it's tender.