Matcha Soba Salad with Norimaki Mochi is made with Cold matcha (green tea) soba noodles tossed with fresh crunchy vegetables, a light and flavorful sesame dressing and topped off with a crisp and chewy norimaki mochi is the perfect way to greet spring.
We made this little gem of a Matcha Soba Salad with Norimaki Mochi while foraging through my pantry on Good Friday looking for a meal that was to fill my belly as well as my soul.
When we lived in Japan, one of my favorite to celebrate the arrival of spring and summer was with homemade cold soba noodles with a mentsuyu dipping sauce and usually a side of sizzling hot tempura of vegetables and shrimp. There is nothing better on hot and steamy day in Asia.
Asia's Heat and its close Brother Humidity
Trust me it gets hot in Asia! Japan is not the hottest place in Asia but after the tragic incident of the tsunami incident there is a rule to keep the air conditioners set at very high temperature. When you get lots of people crammed on the trains or in office buildings, it gets steamy hot. They even have relaxed their suits only dress codes to drop the tie and suit coats so that people are not dripping wet while at work. Then there is always someone who has to break the fashion code like this girl here.
Hand fans to wave yourself with are big in Japan and even here in Hong Kong and all around Asia. Heck, I have one in each colour and I also am not afraid to admit that I hover under umbrellas to shelter myself from the sweltering heat while melting and waiting for the bus on the hot and steamy pavement.. After all of that, you crave something cool and refreshing. (Check out out the photo closely to the right. Do you see the "Do not Photo" sign? I was never one for silly rules... after all I still can't read the kanji only the katakana and hiragana so realistically it could say really anything...like don't bring your cameras inside the shop?... LOL)
Not all Soba Noodles are Gluten-Free
There are just some recipes that are magical and I just love the idea of the cool and refreshing soba noodles with the piping hot tempura. However, I am the gluten-free girl now and it is a good thing that soba noodles also known as buckwheat noodles are gluten-free.
Of course, you need to double-check and read the back of the package to make sure that there are no added ingredients. As only the really good soba noodles are 100 percent buckwheat and some of the less expensive soba noodles are made with a combination of wheat and buckwheat flour. Oh and good luck with reading the kangi, katakana and hiragana on the back of the package...let me know how that goes for you..., and to all of my Japanese friends, you do not count!
Soba (そば) means buckwheat in Japanese. Even though buckwheat has the word "wheat" in it is actually not wheat or even a grain at all. Buckwheat is derived from the seeds of a flowering plant. The triangular seeds also known as buckwheat groats, are made into flour and can be used in make soba noodles. So this is all a very good thing if you are going gluten-free.
I had tons of salad fixings in my refrigerator and lots of fresh spinach and tri-colored peppers so I decided I wanted to make a colorful salad with my matcha soba. If you love soba, be sure to try our Soba Noodle Salad with Yuzu Dressing .
However, I did not have any dashi in the house to make a traditional dressing so I created this modified salad dressing that was super delicious. I mixed sesame oil, honey, tamari sauce, grated diakon and I needed something a little tart so I added a little tamarind juice and it was sublime.
As a healthier option instead of deep-fried tempura, I made norimaki mochi. I just skipped the step of adding the sweet sakura glaze for a lovely sweet and savory salad topper. Baked norimaki are served warm out of the oven and are chewy and slightly sweet, savory and a perfect blend of flavors that brings together all my memories of living in Japan.
What is Norimaki Mochi?
Norimaki mochi is made from a special type of pounded rice called mochi. Mochi is made from a kind of rice called Mochigome. Have you ever seen blocks of white mochi sold in the Asian food stores? Mochigome is much stickier compared to the normal shortgrained rice in Japan. Mochigome is steamed and then pounded while it’s hot and this pounding increases viscosity and the soft glutinous mass becomes smooth and elastic and in factories they shape into blocks and let harden. In Japan there are festivals surrounding the event of the old fashion method of pounding the steamed mochigome with a mallet and hammer.
Mochi can be enjoyed baked, grilled or fried but you cannot eat it raw or otherwise you would break your teeth as it is very hard. However, something very magical happens when the mochi blocks are baked, grilled or fried as they become hot, soft and chewy on the inside and on the outside the mochi block becomes slightly toasty and crispy. It is kind of hard to describe, but do you know what happens to a marshmallow when you toast it? Mochi is not as light as a marshmallow but it a happy culinary eating experience. I glaze my mochi blocks with a little soy and brown sugar glaze and when it gets soft and slightly golden remove from oven and wrap in a nori leaf and this dish is called norimaki mochi. Nori means seaweed. Maki means to roll and mochi is pounded rice. I hope you can try this dish sometime soon.
Ingredient exchanges for your Matcha Soba Salad with Norimaki Mochi
You can make your salad with any vegetables you have in your crisper. The sky is the limit. I also topped my Matcha Soba Salad with Norimaki Mochi with sakura toasted sesame seeds but you could also swap out with plain toasted white or black sesame seeds. There are many different kinds of soba noodles.
There are plain soba, sakura flavoured soba or even cha (green tea/matcha) soba like I used. The salad is great all on its own and my boys loved it as a part of their bento boxed lunches for school. Matcha soba salad can be made 24 hours in advance and is a great dish to bring to functions you have going on this spring/summer.
You can find the mochi blocks to make Norimaki in any Asian food market that carries Japanese products. I absolutely love norimaki but it is not essential to make this matcha soba salad. If you are diabetic, then just swap out the honey for a sugar alternative of your choice and swap out more the soba with more of the delicious crunchy vegetables and exchange to norimaki with cut thin slices of nori leaves (dried seaweed).
More Delicious Asian Salads
Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad
Layered High Sesame Asian Salad
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Matcha Soba Salad with Norimaki Mochi
Ingredients
- 66 grams soba noodles
(100% buckwheat) (1 section of the noodles of a 200 gram package) We used matcha soba - 1 cup spinach
fresh chopped - ¼ cup Carrot
julienne slices or use a grater - ¼ cup red bell pepper
diced - ¼ cup yellow bell pepper
Sesame Dressing
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoon honey
or maple syrup to keep vegan - ¼ cup soy sauce
or tamari to keep gluten-free - 2 tablespoon daikon radish
grated - ¼ cup tamarind
or to taste (Soak tamarind paste in hot water) - 2 teaspoon sesame seeds garnish - optional
Norimaki
- 3 blocks Kirimochi (切り餅)
- 1 sheet dried nori leaves cut into (2.5 inches x 7.5 inches or 6 cm x 16 cm) or just to fit your kirimochi
- ¼ cup soy sauce
or tamari to keep gluten-free - 2 tablespoon brown sugar or sugar alternative of choice
Instructions
- Boil the soba noodles according to the package instructions... Start out by boiling your water and then drop in the soba noodles. Then drop the temperature down from a boil to a simmer and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until aldente. There is no need to salt the water. Drain the noodles in a strainer in the sink and let the cool water gentle run over your noodles for a minute or two, wash the soba noodles so they from any remaining starch residue and until the noodles are cool..drain well (Reserve some of the pasta water to drink,if you like, as it is full of vitamins and minerals or discard)
- In a large bowl add the cooked and cooled soba noodles, chopped spinach, chopped red and yellow bell peppers, carrots or really any vegetables you fancy and have in your crisper.
- Preheat oven to 190 Celsius or 375 F to make your norimaki.
- Make your Japanese sesame dressing for your Matcha soba salad: Add sesame oil, honey, tamari (soy) sauce, grated diakon and tamarind juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. If you want it more salty add more tamari sauce, it you want it more spicy add more diakon radish, if you want it more sour add more tamarind. (You can also use lemon, rice vinegar, limes or yuzu instead of tamarind for the sparkle in the dressing.)
- Add your Japanese sesame dressing to the matcha soba salad and toss lightly. Divide your Matcha soba salad between 3 plates and garnish with sesame seeds.
- Make your norimaki. Make the tamari (soy sauce) glaze: add tamari (soy sauce) to a small pan and add brown sugar and cook over low medium heat until it is a nice and thick glaze about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Place the Kirimochi (切り餅) blocks on a pre-greased baking sheet. Slather the tamari brown sugar glaze on each Kirimochi (切り餅) and bake for about 10 minutes or until firm on the outside and chewy on the inside. Don't cook too long or it will end up in a pool of mochi (completely melted). The goal is you want the edges to be crispy but the inside to be tender. If you do not have an oven, you can also pan fry or grill instead.
- Trim your nori (dried seaweed) into 3 long strips the same width as your mochi. (Alternatively you can buy the thin pre-cut strips of nori). Immediately wrap the warm mochi in nori. Place a delicious hot out of the oven norimaki on each plate of cool matcha soba salads.
- Enjoy.
Shanna Koenigsdorf Ward says
This looks amazing, Bam. I love all of your photos, as well. 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Shanna, you are so sweet. I have so much to learn in the area of photography and really want to take a class or something to give me a jump start. The other day my husband was at home and just watching me take all the photos, the lighting the props, etc and all the work that goes into food photography and he had no idea but was getting impatient as I kept on telling him just one last shot and all he wanted to do was eat. LOL Have a super weekend. BAM
Norma Chang says
Summer will be here soon and this salad will be featured frequently.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Norma, you first have to wait until your snow melts... Sending some warm thoughts your way. Take Care, BAM
cheri says
This looks absolutely delicious. A total meal, perfect for this time of year. I did not know that soba was buckwheat and from seeds, very interesting. Love buckwheat pancakes. Happy week-end to you!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Cheri for your lovely comment. I love buckwheat pancakes too they are so filling.
wok with ray says
That plate is a delicious feast! Oh yeah I agree with you about the hot and humid weather there in Asia. Some of my friends here in the US complaining about the heat especially here in Southern California. I always tell them, try moving to Asia and you will see what you are complaining about. Have a wonderful weekend BAM! 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Ray! Thanks so much for your kind comment. It might be hot all over the world but it can never be as humid as it is here in Asia. The kind of heat that you just sweat standing there...I have 4 dehumidifiers going all the time and still cannot stay on top of it. I hope it is less humid in Sunny California. Have a super weekend. BAM
Beth says
Such a beautiful salad. It's still cool here, so it's unusual to think about steamy hot weather. But I'd eat that salad any time of year!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Beth, Thanks so much. I would love for it to be cool and comfortable here in HK but now I am afraid the heat and humidity will not let up until December again.
Dawn says
Looks very interesting, love the colors in the salad!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Dawn!
nancyc says
Both your salad and Norimaki sound wonderful! I hadn't heard of Norimaki before, but I think I would love it!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Nancy. I think you would really like norimaki mochi if you can find mochi blocks as your local Asian store, I hope you give it a try as it has that whole sweet-salty thing going on.
kitchenriffs says
Soba noodles really are so good. This looks like a terrific way to use them! Very refreshing. Thoroughly entertaining read -- I always enjoy hearing about your experiences in lands I have yet to visit (or really, your experiences in places I know, too!). Fun post -- thanks.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello John, I am glad I can give you a little glimpse of Asia. I think the world is a really small place, don't you think? Knowing bloggers, like yourself, all over the world has made the world seem even smaller. I love learning about different cultures and food. Wishing you a super weekend! Take Care, BAM
dianeskitchentable says
That's a fine looking salad my friend. I just have to tell you that in addition to being amazed by your unique creations, I love getting a glimpse of life in Hong Kong. I'm sure it can be challenging at times but what an experience to be so fully immersed in a culture so different from ours.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Diane, thanks so much for your sweet comments. I think maybe some of the things I take for granted because I live here you guys might really enjoy. Maybe I need to find a way to incorporate my recipes and photos of Asia. It does have its challenges, at times, but we are going on 5 years living in Hong Kong so for us, it feels like home.
Tina @ Tina's Chic Corner says
I've just started eating soba noodles and love them! This looks so delicious! 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Tina
Kristy says
This looks like a great spring salad. I especially love the sesame dressing - it's one of my favorites.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Love your new gravatar picture Kristy! Thanks so much. Have a super weekend. BAM
Fine Dining at Home (@fdathome) says
What is nori maki actually made from, Bam? Is it another version of tofu. Love the salad.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Dave, thanks for stopping by and great question.
Norimaki mochi is made from Mochi, it is not a type of tofu but a special type of pounded rice called mochi. Mochi is made from a kind of rice called Mochigome. Have you ever seen blocks of white mochi sold in the Asian food stores? Mochigome is much stickier compared to the normal shortgrained rice in Japan. Mochigome is steamed and then pounded while it’s hot and this pounding increases viscosity and the soft glutinous mass becomes smooth and elastic and in factories they shape into blocks and let harden. In Japan there are festivals surrounding the event of the old fashion method of pounding the steamed mochigome with a mallet and hammer. Mochi can be enjoyed baked, grilled or fried but you cannot eat it raw or otherwise you would break your teeth as it is very hard. However, something very magical happens when the mochi blocks are baked, grilled or fried as they become hot, soft and chewy on the inside and on the outside the mochi block becomes slightly toasty and crispy. It is kind of hard to describe, but do you know what happens to a marshmallow when you toast it? Mochi is not as light as a marshmallow but it a happy culinary eating experience. I glaze my mochi blocks with a little soy and brown sugar glaze and when it gets soft and slightly golden remove from oven and wrap in a nori leaf and this dish is called norimaki mochi. Nori means seaweed. Maki means to bake or grill and mochi is pounded rice. I hope you can try this dish sometime soon.
Robyn says
This looks so delish, Bobbi, and I've never had norimaki before. You are always introducing me to new foods and I love the challenge. The radish in the dressing is such a nice touch and I am going to make that dressing to use on lots of salads - I absolutely LOVE the ingredients and my taste buds are tingling just thinking of it. I'm very close to gluten-free now as well and I'm convinced it's the only way to go. This dish has everything - fabulous flavours, stunning colours and gorgeous presentation!
Enjoy your weekend!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks so much Robyn. Going gluten-free is really not that hard as everyone thinks, especially now there are all kinds of delicious alternatives. I would highly suggest to double the sesame dressing recipe and then your can just keep in the refrigerator and drizzle on your favorite salads. Take Care, BAM
thecompletebook says
I remember what the heat was like when we lived in Mauritius and all business men wore full suits, some with waist coats as well as vests under their shirts! It was madness. Pete never wore a tie only only ever put his jacket on when absolutely necessary!
Your salad sounds heavenly.
Have a wonderful weekend Bam.
🙂 Mandy xo
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Mandy, I know it is crazy. This morning at only 0900 it was already too hot. Have a super weekend. BAM
Joanna says
It's so colorful and pretty! 🙂 I am thinking about taking my blog from wordpress to my own site... what are your thoughts on this?
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Joanna! I think you need to ask yourself what can I get from having a self hosted site that I can't have just by staying on wordpress. The reason why I moved to a self hosted site as I wanted some added functionality and plugins and I could not do that within the wordpress. WordPress is free, self hosting is not. WordPress is there to help you with your issues and sometimes hosting companies are not. We can take this discussion off line if you wish, just shoot me an e-mail. My other blogging buddies, feel free to chime in at any time.