Hiyashiru Soba (Cold Soba in Chilled Miso Broth, Vegan)
*Hiyashiru* is a cold miso soup from the hot, humid parts of Japan, made with cucumber and herbs. People usually pour it over rice on summer days when nobody wants to cook. This version puts it over chilled soba instead and adds cubes of silken tofu, so one bowl gives you noodles and broth with some protein too.
The method is simple: salt and squeeze the cucumber and eggplant so they stay crisp, toast the miso for depth, and let everything chill in a light kombu broth. Add cold noodles and a handful of ginger, shiso and green onion, and you get a light, cold bowl for when you don't feel like eating much.
Ingredients
- Dried soba noodlesabout 3.5 oz per person
- CucumbersJapanese or Persian2
- EggplantsJapanese or Chinese2
- Silken tofuto taste
Garnishes (any you like, to taste)
- Gingerto taste
- Myoga gingerto taste
- Shiso leavesto taste
- Green onionto taste
Broth
- Water3 1/3 cups
- Kombutwo 4-inch pieces
- Miso4 Tbsp or more
- Mirin2 Tbsp
- Saltto taste
Nutrition
per serving🛒 Ingredient notes & substitutions
Myoga ginger: Hard to find outside Japanese grocers — just leave it out and use a little more fresh ginger and green onion.
Shiso leaves: Look for them at Japanese or Korean markets (Korean perilla is a cousin with a different flavor); fresh mint or basil gives a similar herbal lift.
Kombu: Kombu dashi powder or vegan dashi packets work in place of whole kombu.
Miso: Check the label: some Japanese miso is sold with bonito dashi already mixed in ("dashi-iri").
Dried soba noodles: Many soba brands are mostly wheat flour. For gluten-free, look for 100% buckwheat (juwari) soba.
Instructions
Make kombu dashi with the water and kombu.
Smear the miso onto a wooden spatula and toast it directly over a gas flame. Put a little of the dashi in a bowl and dissolve the toasted miso and mirin in it, then stir it back into the rest of the dashi.
Slice the cucumbers into rounds and the eggplants into half-moons. Sprinkle each with a pinch of salt to draw out their moisture.
Squeeze the released liquid out of the cucumber and eggplant.
Add the cucumber and eggplant to the miso broth and chill it in the fridge.
Cut whichever garnishes you're using.
Cook the soba according to the package directions. Divide the noodles, chilled broth, tofu and garnishes among bowls and serve.
Tips
Toasting the miso is what makes this taste like real hiyashiru. It takes the edge off the miso and gives the broth a smoky, nutty depth. No gas flame? Spread the miso thinly on foil and put it under the broiler until it starts to brown in spots.
For the kombu dashi, a common way is to soak the kombu in the water for about 30 minutes, then heat it gently and take the kombu out just before the water boils.
Cooking time doesn't include chilling the broth. The cold miso broth is also great poured over hot or cold rice, which is how hiyashiru is traditionally eaten.