Soba „Summer Rolls“ Salad with Tofu and Peanut Dressing
Summer, sun, sunshine. Time for some fresh summer rolls ... or is it? Not so fast, we have an alternative for you. We've actually turned our favorite summer dish into a salad. The perfect recipe if you're as clumsy with rolling rice paper as we are or don't have the time to roll them. But if you prefer the classic rolled version, please go here. For everyone else, get ready for soba, fried tofu, and the best peanut dressing ever!
Instead of using rice noodles as usual, we opted for Japanese soba noodles made from buckwheat. You can find soba noodles in well-stocked supermarkets or Asian grocery stores. Of course, you can also use glass or rice noodles. But our salad isn't just made of noodles. The great thing about this salad is that you can chop up anything that comes to hand. We've chosen red cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, edamame, and sugar snap peas. The sugar snap peas add a nice crunchy texture to the salad. But because you can never have enough crunch (or nuts), we've also added some roasted peanuts. Now let's move on to my favorite part: the dressing. It consists of peanut butter (you can also use peanut paste or other nut butters), ginger, garlic, chili, lime juice, sesame oil and ponzu, the queen of soy sauces. Ponzu is one of the most popular seasoning sauces in Japan. It's a blend of soy sauce and citrus fruit, in our case lemon. If it doesn't already have a permanent place in your sauce rotation, you should change that immediately! You can find it, along with soba noodles, in well-stocked supermarkets or Asian grocery stores. So, our noodles are cooked, the vegetables are chopped and the dressing is mixed. Now all that's left is some fried tofu, and you can sit back and enjoy a big bowl of summer rolls salad. Whether for grilling, a picnic in the park or lunch, you can't go wrong with this salad.
Soba „Summer Rolls“ Salad with Tofu and Peanut Dressing
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 50 g (1.75 oz) red cabbage
- 1 small carrot
- 0.5 bell pepper
- 0.5 cucumber
- 50 g (1.75 oz) sugar snap peas
- 1 spring onion
- 10 g (0.33 oz) cilantro
- 150 g (0.33 lb) soba noodles
- 75 g (2.5 oz) frozen shelled edamame
- 50 g (1.75 oz) peanuts
- 150 g (0.33 lb) fried tofu
- toasted sesame oil
For the peanut dressing:
- 1 chili
- 20 g (0.75 oz) ginger
- 1 garlic clove
- 5 tbsp peanut butter
- 1–2 limes (juice)
- 75 ml (0.33 cup) yuzu or ponzu soy sauce
- 50 ml (0.25 cup) toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp agave syrup
- sriracha (optional)
- water
Instructions
Wash red cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, sugar snap peas, spring onions and cilantro. Slice red cabbage, bell pepper, cucumber and sugar snap peas into thin strips. Grate the carrot. Chop the cilantro and thinly slice the spring onions at an angle. Add everything to a bowl and set aside.
Prepare the soba noodles according to the package instructions and let them cool.
In the meantime, prepare the edamame according to the package instructions and set them aside. Then, roast the peanuts in an oil-free pan until golden brown.
Slice the fried tofu into approximately 0.5 cm / 0.3 inch thick slices and briefly sauté in a pan with some sesame oil.
Finely chop the chili, ginger, and garlic and place them in a large salad bowl (remove the seeds from hot chilis beforehand). Add peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, agave syrup and Sriracha and mix everything well. Thin the dressing with water to your desired consistency.
Add the soba noodles to the dressing and toss to coat. Then add the vegetables and cilantro and top with peanuts and edamame.
