Soba Noodles

I had been eating a lot of rice, and decided to have soba noodles with my beef teriyaki.  Except I thought of that after getting home from the market.  No problem, I have buckwheat flour, and I have been meaning to make and post soba noodles here for over a year.

The post I used for my reference talked about only using certain brands of buckwheat flour and other specialized equipment and techniques.  I just used what I had on hand, which was Arrowhead Mills, and it came out fine.  It's actually a lot like making tortillas out of masa flour, just boiled instead of pan-fried.  Slightly different texture.  I don't recommend putting either through a pasta roller.  The lack of gluten makes it pointless.

These noodles do have a little gluten in them, to make them easier to handle.  Since buckwheat is kosher for Passover if you do not observe kitnyot, I got the brilliant idea to make one batch with matzoh cake meal instead of flour.  I used arrowroot powder for the starch, but you could use potato or tapioca starch if you have it.  Really good KLP noodles, but you can't put soy on them because it's fermented.  Still, any noodle during Passover is a relief.

I made what the original recipe said was enough for one serving and it was way too much for me.  Cut it in half the next night and found it just right.  If this doesn't serve your family, just double the recipe.

*1 C buckwheat flour
1/4 C all purpose flour
Water
corn starch as needed

1.  Stir together two flours.  I did the whole thing with my hands.  Add 1/4 C water and stir to make a crumbly meal that almost sticks together.  Knead in water 1 Tb at a time until you get a ball of dough.  It will still crumble apart if you make the effort.

2.  Start boiling a medium pot of water.  Scatter corn starch lightly on a flat surface.  Place dough on top and dust with more starch.  Roll into the thinnest rectangle you can manage, less than 1/8" if possible.

3.  Fold over half of rectangle, dust with more starch, and fold again.  You should have a thin block of folded pasta.  Slice into ribbons as thin as you can make them.

4.  Shake apart folds as you drop the strands into the boiling water.  A thick foam will form on top as the noodles cook.  That's the corn starch.  The noodles will cook in 1-2 minutes.  Drain, rinse, and serve hot.

Difficulty rating  π