Soba (??) is Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour. There are 2 ways of serving soba, it’s either chilled with dipping sauce, or in dashi broth as noodle soup. I think I particularly like cold shoba that is served with dipping sauce known as soba tsuyu on the side. Tsuyu is made of a mixture of dashi, sweetened soya sauce and mirin.
I made soba noodle salad & five-spice pork salad for my lunchbox. I never find making lunch for the next day is a big responsibility. Unless, I am dead tired and don’t feel like I want to do anything. If not, it just makes sense for me to prepare easy and healthy food for lunch. I once made bulgur wheat salad, which is a great lunchbox idea!
Time is bad now – people are careful in their spending. Every now and then I see restaurants put up their special ‘credit crunch’ lunch menu that costs £10 included drinks. But, I have yet seen some quick eateries – those that people go on a daily basis and grab their lunches! It does make me wonder how much less I spend on lunch if I make them at home. After some careful calculations, it really is cheaper to bring food from home. Ok, for soba noodle & five-spice pork salad, I spent less than £6 ($9, €7) on the main ingredients!
I don’t know about you but I can’t survive on sandwiches and crisps on a daily basis – that’s what most people at work for lunch. It’s probably I love food and cooking. But, I just think that it’s important to eat well. Don’t give anymore excuses to go to the kitchen (for e.g. my favourite program is on the telly tonight; too lazy; no time; …etc), try this out for your first or next lunchbox!
Recipe: Soba Noodle & Five-Spice Pork Salad
Ingredients:
Pork tenderloin, 150g – 200g
Soba noodle, 200g
Mange Tout, 100g
Carrot, 1
Sesame seeds (black & white), some
Spring onions, some
Oil, enough for pan-frying
Marinate:
Oyster sauce, 0.5 tbsp
Five-spice powder, 0.5 tbsp
Sesame oil, 0.5 tbsp
Soya sauce, 1 tbsp
Sugar, 1 tbsp
White pepper, a dash
Garlic cloves (crushed), 3
Ginger (crushed), 1-2 cm
Red chili (crushed), 1
Sesame Dressings:
Sesame oil, 3 -4 tbsp
Soya sauce, 2 tbsp
White pepper, a dash
Method:
1. Cut the pork tenderloin into 2-3cm thick. Put oyster sauce, five-spice powder, sesame oil, soya sauce, sugar, white pepper, garlic, ginger, and red chili in a bowl and mix with pork. Marinate for 1-2 hours or more.
2. Trim the mange tout and cut the carrot. Blanch them, refresh in cold water and set aside.
3. Boil a pot of water. Cook soba noodle according to the packet. Once cooked, refresh in cold water.
4. Heat a pan, drizzle with some oil. Pan fry the marinated sliced pork for about 15 – 20 minutes or until each side is golden brown or caramalised.
5. In a bowl, mix soba noodle, mange tout, and carrots. Drizzle some sesame dressings and mix. Then, top a few pieces of five-spice pork to serve. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and spring onions.
6. Alternatively, you can make a simple teriyaki sauce – (1 tbsp sake, 4 tbsp soya sauce, 4-5 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp sugar) and drizzle over the salad.
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February 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 am
this soba look interesting!! Japanese and chinese comb!
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:47 am
I like noodles and I like this lunch box… lovely!
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:27 am
What an absolutely lovely meal! Love the freshness and color of this!
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
WOw, your lunchbox looks amazing! I’m on a diet now and I am only having instant cereal for lunch =(
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I’ve just bought some soba noodles this morning and was wondering what to do with them. I’m going to try this recipe tonight. Will let you know what the family’s verdict was!
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I have never thought of making my own lunchbox when I worked previously. Maybe the food over here is pretty cheap as compared to London. Even though I dun need to make lunchbox now, this recipe is still keeper for me. Simple, healthy & practical!
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Fantastic good looking pictures! I’ll try this dish as soon as!
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 pm
You are wonderful!
I used to bring home food like noodles or rice to office.But we have normally 30 mins lunch break in Norway,I can’t enjoy home food.
February 24th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
So does that mean you wake up very early in the morning and prepare all of this for your lunchbox?
February 24th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Beachloverkitchen,
Since I love both Chinese and Japanese food 
Yup!!
Alice,
Thank you!
Meeta,
Thank you!
Pigpigscereal,
Maybe next time you can try this
nina,
Great!! Let me know!
lk,
I agree with you that it it easier to eat out in SE Asia. I never made my lunchboxes when I was in Malaysia as it was so easy to get food just everywhere and there are so many choices. It’s pretty limited as far as I am concern in London.. oh well, I complain a lot cos as a Malaysian, I have high expectation! hahaha!! Also, it’s expensive too compared to Malaysia.
Mike,
Thanks for your comment!! Let me know if you like it!
limpepsi,
30 minutes?? It’s such a short lunch break. What do you eat normally? Well, to be honest, in London, even though it’s 1 hour lunch break, people eat and work in front of their PC… so it’s not really lunch break..
tigerfish,
No. I make it the night before. I don’t think I could ever wake up very early in the morning and cook.. I will be too sleepy
February 24th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I think this would be lovely to have warm for dinner and then cold for a lunchbox the next day. Love soba noodles and hate expensive London prices so this is a welcome recipe!
February 25th, 2009 at 11:55 am
This looks really yummy and healthy, will make for my husband and my son’s lunch box.
thanks for sharing, more lunch box recipe please
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
gastroanthropologist,
Totally agree with you!
dewi,
No worries..
March 12th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Lovely combination of pork and soba. I like the use of five spice.
Sorry I’ve disappeared the past 2 months! I do have the bento picture and outlet for a post but just did not have the time to write it properly while travelling the past 6 weeks. I’ll email you. Good to see you had fun in NYC!
March 15th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Nilmandra,
Thank you!
No worries!! Yeah, NYC was just wonderful!!
April 13th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
hi if I cook this the night before, do I have t heat it up again in the morning when I removed it from the fridge?
April 14th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Elvadrieng,
Hi, thanks for your comment. You can heat it up if you want as this dish can be eaten cold or warm.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
J’aime bien ta version… et en fait ton blog: de bonnes idées et de superbes photos. A très bientôt
April 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Dominique,
Merci for ton message sympa! Essaye cette recette et dis moi ce que tu en pense!