bits and pieces

After reading that it’s a Japanese tradition to eat soba on New Year’s Eve (called toshikoshi soba), I decided that I would make some for my dinner that night. I loosely followed the recipe for Warm Soba Noodle Bowl from Sunset magazine, but improvised a bit on the ingredients. Still no daikon, no egg, and then I added some soft tofu to it.

The biggest difference, though, was that I made my own dashi this time around, following the recipe from Just Hungry for ichiban dashi. It’s actually really easy to make, starting with soaking seaweed (kombu or konbu) in water, then boiling it, and then chucking in some bonito flakes and turning off the heat. I left it on the burner, since it wasn’t clear from the instructions, but I think it turned out ok. A bit light, so I might add more bonito flakes next time around, or try another variation.

And then I settled in with my soba and watched the rest of a marathon of The Three Stooges, at least until midnight, when they showed recorded coverage of New Year celebrations in Japan, mainly with temple bells tolling at midnight. Which, to me, is a nice way to end the evening, watching well-angled camera shots of temples with snow falling near them.