(Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free)

Last night, 7 inches of snow tumbled through the sky and landed on our city, smoothing out the sharp edges and muffling all but the most insistent of sounds. Today was a snow day for both Simon and me, and we spent a chunk of it sledding down Art Hill. So today I thought I’d post a recipe in celebration of Spring.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the snow. Snow makes me happy in a way that little else does. As I watched it fall through the night, sometimes in flakes that were big, fat and furious, other times in meandering sprinkles that looked like they’d never find their way to the ground, I felt both invigorated and soothed. For a few precious hours early this morning, the city was silent. No car moved down our street, and the only tracks in the snow belonged to birds, squirrels, and one brave runner.

Snow makes the world seem safe and small.

But it’s almost Setsubun, or Japanese Bean Day. What kind of a bean blogger would I be if I let a bean holiday slip by unannounced?

Setsubun literally translates to “season division”, and though it is the name given to the day before the beginning of each season, it is most widely celebrated on February 3, to celebrate the arrival of Spring. A Japanese holiday calls for a Japanese dish, and I’d been looking for a reason to cook with seaweed.

The Recipe

I have to admit, I had real doubts when this dish was coming together. It made the house smell bad. The combination of hijiki (a brown sea vegetable that grows wild on rocky coastlines in Asia), frying cabbage, and musky shitakes gave off an aroma that was both pungent and, well, cave-like. But I figured with ingredients like onions, bell peppers, and carrots it was hard to go wrong. In the end, I’d say that this dish is not quite balanced, in that the nose doesn’t match up with the palate. I still wasn’t thrilled with the way it smelled, but the flavor profile was fantastic.

Although there are a lot of Japanese beans to choose from, for this recipe I went with Envy soybeans. I’m particularly proud of these beans, because they grew in our garden last year. They were meant to be eaten fresh, as edamame, but last summer was a busy time for us and before I knew it, my beans were drying on the vine. Well enough, because they made a great addition to my soba noodle salad.

I don’t know much about the history of this heirloom soybean, except that it was cultivated by the late Professor Edwin Meader, and since it’s an early producer (80 days) it’s suitable for Northern climates too. I bought my seed from Seed Savers Exchange, but it’s also available through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Soba Noodle Stir-fry with Soybean

8 ounces uncooked Soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat pasta)
¼ cup hijiki
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cups shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion
2 carrots, julienned
2 cups soybeans, cooked
2 cups green cabbage, shredded
2 cups red cabbage, shredded
3 tablespoons (plus more as needed) soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

Cover the hijiki with water and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain, then place in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and enough water to cover it. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid, and set both aside.

Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles in a pot of boiling water until they are al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, rinse well with cold water, and set aside.

For this part you’ll need a wok or a large non-stick skillet. I prefer to use the skillet, because in my experience, the long sides of a wok don’t get hot enough to fully cook all the ingredients. A skillet for this recipe will have to be able to hold what a wok could.

Place sesame seeds in heated wok/skillet and cook until they are toasted and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. You’ll need to shake them now and then so they don’t burn. Remove when toasted and set aside.

Heat the peanut oil until very hot, and then add garlic and onion. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the carrots, shitakes, jalapeno and bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add soybeans and both types of cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more, adding a small amount of oil if necessary. Ingredients should be lightly coated with oil. Add the remaining soy sauce and the rice wine vinegar and cook for 2 minutes. Add the hijiki, saving enough for garnish, the reserved hijiki cooking liquid, and the soba noodles and mix well with the vegetables. Cook 1 or 2 minutes more, until heated through.

Add the toasted sesame seeds, the cilantro and the sesame oil. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with hijiki and cilantro, and serve.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.