Every time I enter the noodle aisle in ranch market, I get blown away with the different varieties that are available. It’s a Chinese market. That should explain it all and yet, it leaves me gawking and wondering if I dedicate a whole month to just noodles, will I be able to cover it all? Truth is, I seriously doubt it! From thick to thin, from flat to round, from straight to curly, you name it and it might just be there, sitting silently to be relished.
At times, it's not always easy to locate the thing you want. We walked back and forth the aisle, looking left, right and left again. And finally, there it was, color matching to my nail polish, thin, straight, three bundles tightly packed in a transparent cover that read organic Soba - authentic Japanese buckwheat noodle.
You are famous I know, but all this effort! You better be worth it, I thought.
It took me a while, few failed attempts before I started to consider it as a must-have-in-my-pantry item. I find it similar to spaghetti, barely takes any time to boil and can be blended effortlessly with any kind of sauce. An always-easy choice is my favorite garlic lemon sauce but this time, I took the gourmet route and served soba noodle with mini scallops in tomato wine sauce. Let's ignore how long the name is and consider how yum it sounds!
The sauce takes a while to get ready. Simmering tomato puree with onion, spices and red or white wine allows the flavor to mix while making the sauce rich. Once that is done, frying the scallops and boiling the noodle takes about four to five minutes. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro, drizzle little bit on lemon juice on top and it’s ready.
The scallop in wine sauce is incredible with bread as well. I would say, make some extra for next day. We topped it on crusty bread and it made a great bruschetta recipe. If you are not a seafood person, I guess you could use some firm pan-fried tofu in its place and if you don’t like wine, leave that aside and just make a tangy tomato sauce with vinegar. But if you like a boozy sauce and enjoy scallop, give this dish a shot. The nutty flavored noodle with the spicy rich sauce and soft scallop bite in between makes it a delightful meal.
Soba Noodle with Scallop in Wine Sauce
Ingredients
for the sauce
- ½ medium onion (finely chopped)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 cups tomato puree
- ¼ cup white or red wine of your choice
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt to taste
rest of the ingredients
- 6 ounce soba noodle
- ½ pound mini scallops
- 2 red chilies (thinly sliced (optional))
- fresh cilantro (chopped for garnish)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat some oil and sauté chopped onion along with garlic. Don’t let it turn brown. Add tomato puree, chili flakes, salt, freshly cracked black pepper and give it a mix. Add wine, bring the heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and the flavor has infused.
- In the mean time, heat a pan with one tablespoon oil and fry the scallops, about 2 minutes one ach side.
- Once done, add fried scallop to the saucepan with tomato wine sauce along with diced red chilies and give it a mix.
- Cover the saucepan and cook for one more minute. Switch off the heat and keep it aside.
- Once you are ready to serve, boil the noodle as per the instructions mentioned in the package.
- Pour the mini scallops with wine sauce in a big salad bowl. Once the noodles are done which should take about 4 minutes, drain the noodles and add it to the same salad bowl. Give it a toss to mix everything.
- Sprinkle chopped cilantro, drizzle a little bit of lemon juice and serve warm.
Notes
- Make a vegetarian version by substituting scallops with pan fried tofu.
- Wine makes the sauce taste rich but if you don't like wine, you can avoid it and add vinegar instead.
- The mini scallops in tomato wine sauce can be made in advance and they taste even better the next day. It works great with crusty bread on the side.
Nutrition
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You had me cracking up on your comment about the variety of noodles available. It's true! There are almost endless...In the US, we haven't even come close to the fresh ones sold in Asia. Love your creative take on Asian dishes like this one. Sweet scallops with wine sauce mixed in with soba noodles. That's elevating the usual bar on noodles. This is one great recipe, Kankana!
Vishakha
Love scallops! But have never cooked them at home. Must try! So messy yet so awesome! Lovely pics:)
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Scallops-love them! Noodles-love them, too. chilies, cilantro, all good things. Can't wait to try!
Shruti
I am probably just repeating what all the others said..but ... your photos and styling are absolutely lovely and very inspiring.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.c
I just recently discovered soba noodles myself. It's so versatile and I love how you've used a couple of spices and small delicate scallops to impart more flavors 🙂
marla
A beautiful recipe & great styling!
carey
I feel so silly when I tell people that I have yet to try soba noodles. They just haven't found their way into my kitchen, and I'm not sure why! I've grown quite fond of buckwheat lately, so I bet this will be remedied soon.
I love seafood (scallops especially), and I don't get to eat it nearly enough here in VT. What I would do for a coastline and fresh, reasonably priced seafood! The flavors in this dish remind me a lot of one that my Italian ex's mother would make on occasion, and it was one of my favorites. I may have to splurge on some overpriced scallops from our natural foods market sometime soon. (:
Kitchen Belleicious
i always pair scallops with white wine but I can't wait to try it with the red wine sauce! It sounds fabulous
Donalyn
There aren't enough days in the year to eat all the noodles I want - and now I have another recipe to try! thanks!
Gabriela
Ohh, dear, I love buckwheat's flavor and these noodles you made here look amazing! And the sauce is so flavorful, I would for sure not decline a bowl of your noodles!
Eha
Am thrilled to have this recipe. Have loved and used soba noodles for decades: always somehow feel more 'virtuous' than usimg many other forms of pasta ;)! Living semi-rurally I do oft have problems getting lovely, plump fresh scallops but small snapfrozen ones are always available and using them in a sauced dish does make them palatable! So hurray for a new way!
tigerfish
I enjoy using soba a lot, in soups and sauce-based like this too. Hmmmm, there is actually no noodle that I have tried and don't enjoy :p I am a noodle-person and must have noodles at least once a week.
Your photos are so gorgeous and beautiful! Your gourmet noodle dish is making me so hungry.