Cold noodle salad recipe
Refreshing and healthy cold noodle salad recipe perfect for summer. Packed with veggies, protein, and a flavorful miso ginger dressing.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 6.3 oz dried soba noodles 2 bundles
- 3 large eggs scrambled
- 1.5 tbsp oil to fry the eggs
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes halved
- 3 whole Persian cucumbers roll cut diced
- 3.6 oz baby greens/lettuce of choices roughly chopped
- Garnish toasted black sesame seeds
For the ground meat seasonings:
- 1 oz garlic cloves minced, 6 large
- 0.2 oz ginger minced
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 lb ground beef or pork, poultry
- ½ tsp coarse sea salt
- 4.4 oz fresh shiitake mushroom caps 4-5 large caps (diced)
- 1.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 0.5 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 0.5 tbsp Chinese cooking wine optional, Taiwanese michu, or Japanese cooking sake, optional
Dressing:
Instructions
Saute ground meat:
- In a large saute pan, preheat it over medium heat until it feels warm. Add the oil and garlic and ginger, saute for 10 seconds. Add the ground meat of choice, turn heat up to medium-high, use a wooden spoon to break it up into fine bits. Cook until the meat is cooked through and in light golden brown, 10 minutes.
- Season with salt and add the shiitake. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until the mushroom sweats. Pour in the worcestershire, mirin, light and dark soy sauces, and the cooking wine, saute for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Transfer out to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Once the ground meat is cool to room temperature, taste and adjust with more salt, if needed. Keep the meat on a slightly saltier side in order to balance with the plain boiled noodles.
Scrambled eggs:
- Use the same pan, add 1.5 tbsp oil. Preheat the pan over medium heat until it feels hot, whisking the eggs and pouring it into the pan. Use a pair of chopsticks to stir the eggs in one direction until the eggs are scrambled. Transfer out and set aside to cool.
Boil the noodles:
- Follow the packaging instructions to boil the noodles. Rinse in cold water to remove excess starch, drain and shake away moisture. Set aside in a large plate, drizzle with a little oil and toss to prevent the noodles from sticking.
Make the dressing:
- In a large measuring cup with a spout, add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and grated ginger. Give it a stir then add the miso paste. Stir and use the liquid in the cup to help dissolve the miso.
- Slowly drizzle in the sesame oil and the avocado oil while whisking at the same time to emulsify the dressing.
Assemble:
- In a large salad bowl, add the noodles, ground meat, eggs, tomato, cucumber, and lettuce. Pour in the dressing and toss. Garnish with sesame seeds. Serve right away.
Video
Notes
- Other possible toppings - Asian pickled cucumbers, Paleo kimchi, Cucumber kimchi, Korean cucumber salad.
- Can also use rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms and the mushroom soaking liquid to make the ground meat more flavorful.
- If you don’t have worcestershire sauce, you can also use aged balsamic vinegar or Chinese black vinegar.
- Storage: Pack the 4 components separately in the refrigerator - the noodles, the veggie items, the ground meat, and the dressing. Only combine them when you are ready to eat.
- How long does it last? It’s best to consume them 3-4 days after making them.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 147mg | Sodium: 821mg | Potassium: 582mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1630IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 4mg