Posh nosh: Soba with a citrus scent

Tucked in a corner at the supermarket at Isetan Scotts is a little treasure that my friend unearths.

Yuzu soba.

Regular readers of this column will know I cannot get enough of the aromatic Japanese citrus fruit and she knows this is catnip for me.

The scent comes from the zest of the fruit and this is kneaded into the soba dough.

Uncooked, the smell is just heavenly, making me pause to sniff before dropping the buckwheat noodles into boiling water.

After cooking, the yuzu aroma is less pronounced, but discernible.

Every now and then, you get a surprise hit of the citrus.

The noodles are chewy in the way that I like and although this is not the artisanal stuff, it is an adequate substitute until you can get to a proper soba restaurant.

The trick is to thin out the soba dipping sauce with water, so that the soya sauce in it does not overwhelm the delicate flavour of the noodles.

Hondashoten Yuzu Soba, $6.90 for a 200g pack from Isetan Scotts Supermarket, B1 Shaw House, tel: 6733-1111, open: 10am to 9.30pm daily

This article was first published on December 7, 2014.
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