Juuwari soba with duck breast, negi and shiitake

This Japanese recipe combines traditional suimono – clear soup – as the base stock for a delicious Japanese noodle soup using juuwari soba – 100% buckwheat noodles – and oven roasted duck breast.

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Ingredients

• 800ml dashi
• 400ml water
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms – medium size
• 1 tablespoon quality shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
• 1½ tablespoons mirin
• 2 duck breasts
• 4 quails eggs (can substitute with one duck or chicken egg semi hard-boiled and peeled)
• Finely sliced negi – shallots
• 150g juuwari soba (100% buckwheat noodles)

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 80 mins

Dried shiitake mushrooms

For the suimono

1. Soak whole dried shiitake in water overnight.
2. Remove the shiitake from the water and slice finely. Keep the soaked shiitake water for use later.
3. Add dashi, half of the water from the shiitake and sliced mushrooms to a pot. Bring to a simmer.
4. Add shoyu and mirin as directed and taste for balance. Adjust the flavours to your liking by adding more mirin, shoyu and salt. Remember shoyu also has a salt content so adjust the flavour in small doses.

For the duck breast

Breaking down the duck with a MCUSTA honesuki – boning knife

1. Preheat oven to 140°c.
2. Break down the whole duck leaving the breasts attached to the breastbone. Use a boning knife if you have one. On a baking tray, place duck breasts on a raft of negi (the stem close to the root) and sprinkle liberally with sea salt.
3. Place duck in the oven and roast for 40-50 minutes or until just pink on the bone. Remove from the oven and let cool.
4. Take the two breasts off the bone and place skin side down in a skillet on low/med heat. Let cook until the fat has melted away (approx 15 minutes) and the skin is crisp. Remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. Slice duck breast into ~1cm thick slices.

Duck breast on raft of negi

To assemble

1. Preheat noodle bowls with hot water or by placing in the oven.
2. Cook the soba as per packet instructions and wash in cold water.
3. To bowls, add cooled noodles, eggs (cut in half) before pouring in the hot soup.
4. Place sliced duck breast and negi on top of soup and serve immediately.

Roast duck juuwari soba in a clear broth of dashi and shiitake

Chefs tips

1. Serve with ichimi – Japanese chilli powder – on the side
2. Can’t find shiitake mushrooms? Try dried porcini.
3. Not all soba noodles are created equal. There are many noodles on the market that carry the moniker “soba” but most are a blend of up to 50% wheat flour mixed with buckwheat. Always try to buy 100% buckwheat soba noodles – juuwari soba – as the health benefits are only surpassed by the superior taste and texture. Buckwheat is high in protein, B1, B2, Rutin, amino acids and minerals.