In my ongoing battle to move beyond the eternal ham-and-chips routine, buckwheat is a weapon to wield carefully, given its tendency to scare off my usual dinner guests.
I love buckwheat—in crêpes, noodles, or crozets. It’s a pseudo-cereal rich in complex proteins, rivaled only occasionally by quinoa.
This is a beta version, because like an absolute novice, I tried wok-cooking an entire pot of soba noodles. Mistakes were made, lessons were learned. Oh, and I forgot to add soy sauce to the stir-fry sauce…
Otherwise, taste-wise, it’s actually pretty decent.
Serves 4–5
Ingredients
For the Noodles
- Option 1:
- 300g buckwheat flour + 100g high-gluten flour
- Option 2:
- 400g store-bought dry noodles
For the Vegetables and Seafood
- 1/4 celeriac
- 4 parsnips
- 8 scallops
- 1 handful of langoustines
- 1/2 liter of mussels
For the Stir-Fry Sauce
- 15cl high-smoke-point oil (e.g., grapeseed)
- 3cl sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 shallot
- 1 mild jalapeño pepper
- And, if you’re not an absent minded idiot like me, some soy sauce
Preparation
1. Prepare the Vegetables
- Peel the celeriac and parsnips, then julienne them into thin strips.
- Blanch the julienned vegetables briefly in boiling water, then set them aside.
2. Prepare the Seafood
Because the sauce will bring most of the flavor, there’s no need to go overboard on seasoning the seafood:
- Cook the mussels in lightly salted water for 10 minutes—no aromatics needed.
- Cook the langoustines in the same way for no more than 3 minutes.
- If you bought the mussels, langoustines, and scallops whole, shell them all.
- Briefly blanch the scallops.
3. Prepare the Stir-Fry Sauce
- Thinly slice the garlic, shallot, and jalapeño.
- Mix these aromatics with the grapeseed and sesame oils.
4. Cook the Noodles
- If using fresh noodles: Make the dough by mixing the buckwheat and high-gluten flours, then roll and cut into thin noodles.
- If using dry soba noodles: Precook them briefly in boiling water to loosen them, then drain.
5. Wok-Cooking
This is where the magic happens, but it requires patience.
- Heat the wok to a high temperature.
- Stir-fry each portion of noodles individually for 1–3 minutes. This ensures even cooking and prevents the noodles from clumping or overcooking.
Assembly and Serving
- Toss the vegetables and seafood with the stir-fried noodles.
- Pour over the aromatic sauce (and don’t forget the soy sauce this time).
Serve immediately while hot