Wasabi Salmon & Soba Noodle Salad

Wasabi is one of those things that hurts me to eat, but I still love it. Recently more and more pubs are offering up mugs of wasabi peas instead of pork scratchings, and I can't help but shovel handfuls of them, no matter how much they make my eyes well up when you get that inevitable 'wasabi head' like you do with mustard.

To go with the salmon marinated with wasabi, I thought a cold soba noodle salad would be refreshing and would temper the heat. Soba noodles have a great nuttiness to them, and although they're quite fine, they're still pleasantly chewy.

Wasabi Salmon & Soba Noodle Salad

Serves 2

2 salmon fillets
3 tsp of wasabi powder, made up with 1 tsp water
2 tsp light soy sauce
1" ginger, grated

Combine the soy sauce with the ginger and the wasabi, and spread over the salmon fillets. Leave to marinate for an hour.

For the noodle salad:

100gr soba noodles
1 carrot, grated
5 little gem lettuce leaves, washed and shredded
1 spring onion, sliced on the diagonal
1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 tsp light soy sauce
A few drops of sesame oil
1/2 tsp mirin
1 tsp rice vinegar
Bonito flakes (optional)

Cook the soba noodles in boiling water for exactly 3 minutes. Refresh in iced water, and drain well. Toss the noodles in a large bowl with a few drops of vegetable oil, so that they don't stick together. Add the carrot, spring onion and lettuce and toss well. In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and sesame oil and add the toasted sesame seeds. Add to the noodles, toss well ensuring all the noodles are coated well.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill and grill the salmon for roughly 8 minutes, depending on how thick your fillet is. Serve, sprinkling some bonito flakes on top of the noodles, which adds a great umami depth to the salad.