Recipes › Peas (Sugar Snap) › Japanese Sugar Snap Pea and Sesame Soba Noodle Salad
Japanese Sugar Snap Pea and Sesame Soba Noodle Salad
Cold soba noodles tossed with a generous tangle of barely-blanched sugar snap peas in a deeply savoury sesame and miso dressing. This is a proper summer lunch — substantial, full of contrasting textures, and one of those dishes that genuinely tastes better after 20 minutes of sitting in the dressing. The peas do most of the heavy lifting here, giving crunch and sweetness against the nutty, umami-rich sauce.
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Ingredients
- 400 sugar snap peas, tops and strings removed, halved diagonally
- 300 g soba noodlesuse 100% buckwheat soba to make this gluten-free
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp white miso paste
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 1 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 3 tbsp warm water
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced (optional)
Contains: cereals gluten, sesame, soya, sulphites.
Method
- Make the dressing first. In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, miso paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Add the grated ginger and garlic, then loosen to a pourable consistency with the warm water, adding it a tablespoon at a time and whisking until smooth. Taste — it should be nutty, savoury and tangy. Set aside.About 4 min
- Cook the soba noodles according to the packet instructions — usually 4–5 minutes in well-salted boiling water. Drain, then rinse thoroughly under cold running water, tossing the noodles as you do to cool them quickly and wash off excess starch. This step is essential — starchy soba clumps badly. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.About 8 min
- While the noodles cook, blanch the sugar snap peas. Bring a separate small pan of salted water to the boil, add the peas and cook for 60 seconds only — they should be bright green with full crunch intact. Drain and rinse immediately under cold water until completely cool.About 3 min
- Pour two-thirds of the dressing over the cooled noodles and toss well to coat every strand. Add the blanched sugar snap peas and most of the spring onions, and toss again so everything is evenly distributed. Let the salad sit for at least 5 minutes before serving — this allows the noodles to absorb the dressing properly.About 2 min
- Divide between four bowls or pile onto a large platter. Drizzle over the remaining dressing, scatter with sesame seeds, the rest of the spring onions, and sliced chilli if using. Serve at room temperature.About 2 min
Tips
- Rinsing soba noodles properly under cold water is non-negotiable — skip it and you will end up with a gluey mass rather than separate, springy noodles.
- If the dressing thickens as it sits, loosen it with an extra splash of warm water before dressing the noodles.
- This salad is even better the next day once the noodles have had time to soak up the dressing fully — just hold back a little dressing to refresh it before serving.
Ring the changes
- To make this more substantial, add 200g of shredded cooked chicken or sliced firm tofu pan-fried in a little soy sauce.
- Use 100% buckwheat soba noodles to make the dish gluten-free — check the label carefully as many soba blends contain wheat flour.
Keeping it
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. The noodles will absorb more dressing as they sit, so add a splash of rice vinegar and a little sesame oil when you serve them again to bring them back to life.
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