It was such a hot day today and I was thinking a plate of cold soba would be nice. But the thought of stepping out of the house in the hot sun to get a bottle of soba tsuyu (dipping sauce) is practically feet dragging :?.

I decided to prepare my own soba tsuyu. The great thing about making my own is that I can control the saltiness of the sauce. You can also prepare more and keep them in bottles in the fridge.

Cold soba is great as a quick lunch and easy to prepare.

Ingredients for Soba Tsuyu 500ml (6-8 servings)

1 1/2 cups dashi stock using sachets

1/3 cup Japanese soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin (sweet cooking wine)
1/4 tsp caster sugar

Ingredients for Cold Soba
100g dried soba noodles
2 spring onion, finely chopped
4cm radish, finely grated
120ml soba tsuyu dipping sauce
2 sheet nori seaweed, cut into thin strips
Wasabi (optional)

Directions
1. Combine dashi, Japanese soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, stir until sugar is dissolved – this will only take about a minute.

2. Refridgerate to chill. Prepare at least 1 hour in advance so that the tsuyu has sufficient time to cool down. Once chilled, you can transfer to a bottle and store up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

3. Cook the soba noodles according to pack instructions, about 5-6 minutes. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Once noodles are cooked, drain and run under cold tap, then place the noodles in ice water.

4. To serve, drain noodles and place on a plate or zaru (sieve-like bamboo tray). Garnish with nori seaweed.

5. Add the grated radish, scallion and your preferred amount of wasabi to the cold Soba tsuyu. And our meal is ready!