A wonderful friend and coworker approached me asking if I had any delicious vegetarian Japanese recipes. I realized that even though I love going to sushi restaurants and eating everything, I have never cooked a Japanese meal before – so I took this as a challenge.

Japan is an incredibly beautiful and vibrant country filled with friendly, effervescent people and bright, bold food. Tokyo in particular  is like no other place in the world and has so much unique and interesting culture to offer. So I know I needed to think outside of the box for this recipe. It needs to be as exciting as the Shibuya crossing in Tokyo at rush hour, as delicate as the historical Geisha’s in Kyoto and as colourful as a blooming cherry blossom in Osaka.

Even though I haven’t cooked much Japanese food, I sure did eat a lot of it when I was on vacation over there. They love to use bold flavours in a tasteful and interesting way. So why not boil the soba noodles in saké, a Japanese rice wine, for a unique twist? This gives the noodles a more kicked up flavour, but if you are not cooking with alcohol, you could replace the saké for green tea. Just soak one tea bag in the water and remove before adding the noodles. Neither of these cooking methods give an intense flavour to the noodles but they both take them from a bland noodle to a more earthy, sweet and acidic taste. Obviously I liked cooking the noodles in saké so that I could enjoy a nice glass or two of what was leftover with dinner.

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• ½ of a 12.8oz package of soba noodles (this recipe can easily be doubled to use the whole package, if wanted)
• 1 cup saké
• 6-8 cups water for boiling noodles
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 scallions, chopped

For the tofu:

• 1 14oz package extra firm tofu
• ½ cup cornstarch, divided for dredging station
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tbsp saké
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp cornstarch for sauce
• 4-6 tbsp canola oil, for frying
• ½ tsp sesame oil, mixed with canola for frying

For the slaw:

• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 radish, grated
• 1½ – 2 cups daikon, grated
• ¾ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• juice of ½ a lime
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt

Preparation:

Start off by cutting the tofu into 6 pieces so we can begin to dry it out. The more water we can get out of the tofu before frying the crispier it will stay once we add the sauce to it. Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt divided over each piece of tofu to draw out the water. Lay the tofu out on a paper towel. Place a second piece of paper towel on top of the tofu. You will want this to sit for at least 1 hour before cooking, changing the paper towels every 15-20 minutes. Once this step is finished, cut the tofu into even 1 inch pieces.

To make the slaw, mix together the carrot, radish, daikon and cilantro in a bowl. Whisk together the remaining slaw ingredients for the dressing. Pour ½ of the dressing over the slaw and mix together. Set aside remaining dressing and slaw.

For the tofu sauce, whisk together the teriyaki, soy, vinegar, garlic, butter, onion powder, red pepper flakes and cornstarch. Set aside while we prepare the tofu. Add ¼ cup of cornstarch to one bowl. Whisk together ¼ cup of cornstarch, water and saké (cornstarch slurry) in a separate bowl. Heat the canola and sesame oil on medium heat in a deep sauté pan. First coat the tofu in the cornstarch and then into the second bowl with the cornstarch slurry. Add to the hot oil and fry on each side for 2-2½ minutes, until a nice golden brown. Fry in batches so you don’t over crowd the pan. Remove from heat and rest on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Once all of the tofu is finished, pour the teriyaki sauce mixture that we made earlier and 2 tbsp of sesame seeds over each piece of tofu and gently mix together.

Bring the water and saké to a boil. Add the soba noodles and stir for 3 minutes, or follow directions on the package. Drain and add the teriyaki tofu (and whatever sauce is left in the bowl) and chopped scallions to the noodles. Serve with the slaw piled on top and pour remaining slaw dressing over each dish. Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp of sesame seeds on top of each dish. Serve warm with the cold slaw on top or serve everything chilled. Don’t have time to make everything? Take away the slaw and just have the warm teriyaki tofu and soba noodles, but make double the teriyaki sauce to pour over the noodles. So many ways to enjoy this dish but of course, have it with a nice cup of saké!