This is the best and most delicious food ever. It is pure comfort. All the accumulated juices from the dashi or seafood stock, plus the dumplings and the cod will have dripped into the steamer pot, making it the perfect broth for noodles. Now all you do is add soba noodles (I used spelt soba, which is really not soba, since soba means buckwheat) to the broth, bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until the noodles are al dente, about 7 minutes. DO NOT DRAIN the broth. That is sacrilege.
Traditionally the large pot would be in the middle of the kitchen table, so family could all participate in the cooking and take their own servings straight out of the pot. Mmm…hot pot. The broth will be rich and often meaty, and the mix of flavours is completely unique each time.
To serve the noodles, place a bit in individual bowls, or let diners take their own and then ladle the broth over the noodles. I ended up with not quite enough broth, which was sad, and I had to dilute with some leftover vegetable broth. If you boil your dumplings instead of steaming them, you’ll also get a much more intense flavour from the meat and the soy sauce in the fillings that leaches out into the boiling liquid. The noodles should be slurped up with the broth. The hit of liquid kind of tunes your stomach into the fact that you’re full (or tricks you into thinking you’re full if the meal has been small, a useful trick when a family can’t afford a lot of meat and vegetables) and you’ll end the meal feeling warm and satisfied. Don’t worry about thinking it’s weird to end a meal with pasta. It’s perfectly traditional. If you want more flavour you can drag the noodles through the sauce you mixed on your plate for the dumplings, like chile paste, hoisin or soy. Enjoy.
Brilliant, brilliant Asian cuisine…
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