Soba with Ginger Miso-Maple Syrup Dressing

On a whim, I bought soba noodles without a recipe in mind and it's been sitting in my pantry for months. I hope to try this soon.

What you’ll need for 4 servings:-

• 3 tbsps miso paste
• 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1.5 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsps flavourless cooking oil
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 270g dried soba noodles
• 300g organic firm tofu, drained and sliced
• 1 stalk of spring onion (scallion), thinly sliced
• 2-3 chinese cabbage leaves (wombok), thinly sliced
• Chilli oil *optional*

Method:-

Add miso paste, ginger, maple syrup, sesame oil and cooking oil and whisk until smooth. Transfer 1/3 of the mixture to another bowl to be used as the tofu marinate. Set aside.  Add white vinegar to the remaining 2/3 of miso mixture and whisk until smooth. Check for taste and adjust with more maple syrup and vinegar if you like.

Pat the tofu slices with kitchen towel until dry. Then using a teaspoon, lightly smear the miso marinate on both sides of the tofu slices and place on a preheated griddle. Grill until lightly charred over low-medium heat. While grilling the tofu, start cooking the soba noodles according to the packet instructions. Once the soba noodles are cooked to al dente, drain and rinse until cold running water to remove the starch and preventing the noodles from sticking together. If you like the noodles to be a little hot for consumption, run hot boiling water through the noodles again, which means you will need to undercook the noodles by 2 minutes off the recommended time.

Toss soba with the dressing and side aside. Once all the tofu slices have finished grilling, the dish is now ready.

To serve,  divide the soba noodles equally on 4 plates and top with grilled tofu. Finally,  scatter the sliced cabbage leaves and spring onions. Drizzle with some chilli oil if preferred.