For her final Sourced and Seasoned recipe, Claudia Brick (The Brick Kitchen) has put together a tasty, late-summer-inspired soba noodle salad, starring smoky grilled sweetcorn and fresh Market herbs.
Download your copy of the recipe here and learn a little more about the dish in The Brick Kitchen’s blog post below.
‘There are a number of recipes which I continue to make variations of (based on the season and *mostly* the contents of my fridge) which feature on high rotation. This is one. The formula goes: soba noodles, lots of herbs and veg, some riff on a usually lime and tahini-based dressing, a protein source (gooey egg, peanut tofu, seared salmon etc etc), crunchy bits (crispy shallots, chopped nuts, and seeds, spring onion). Despite the fact that the Instagram algorithm would have you think we are all sugar fiends and only an elaborate cake or a cookie (melted pool of dark chocolate and flaky sea salt for maximum impact) is worth anyone’s time/eyes, it’s actually these weeknight recipes that far more of you actually cook. I guess dinner is a (somewhat) compulsory meal of the day, whereas cakes are a fun bonus (no less important or necessary though). Although I love making new recipes, 90% of the time currently I can’t face the mental energy associated with trying anything other than what I know will take me no more than half an hour, is guaranteed to turn out well, and will give me work leftovers to look forward to – so here we are.
It’s also my final recipe in collaboration with Prahran Market, and inspired by the late summer stacks of local sweetcorn and bunches of fresh herbs currently available. Helpfully, the market also is home to a number of specialty food stores which means you can pretty much buy every single ingredient you might possible need – from the chilli oil, tahini, and soba noodles used in this recipe to the black limes and preserved lemons I’ve been using for our Ottolenghi dinner nights.
The easiest way I’ve found to make the smoky grilled sweetcorn is directly over a gas element (if you have one) or on a barbecue. While you occasionally rotate the cobs over the flame (don’t worry if it pops and spits madly), make the chilli lime dressing and pour a 1/3 or so over the cucumber batons for maximum flavour. Peanuts go in the oven to toast, as does the crispy salt and pepper baked tofu. Toss together the cold soba with spiced Thai basil and coriander, finely chopped peanuts, and the remaining dressing (with a little tahini added for creaminess) and top with crisp cucumber, grilled corn, lots of tofu, and extra chilli oil, depending on much heat you can tolerate.
*Side note – crispy tofu is very delicious right from the oven, and slightly less delicious, and definitely not crispy on subsequent days. I don’t mind it, but you might also prefer this peanut tofu if you’re making it for a few meals. If you want to read everything you might want to know about oven-baked crispy tofu, I would direct you to this blog post by my friend Georgia (who also has innumerable other amazing recipes you should check out) – https://georgeats.com/recipes/crispy-oven-baked-tofu-gluten-free-vegan-fodmap-friendly/.’
