soba noodles with sesame dressing

i am not particularly fond of japanese food but this is one japanese dish that i thoroughly enjoy - the cold soba noodles with sesame dressing. cook the soba noodles in rapid boiling water for about 15 minutes or until the noodles are tender. then drain and rinse the noodles under cold running water. rinse till the water is clear.

in a large mixing bowl, combine the soba noodles, fried tofu strips, cut soft-boiled egg pieces and baby spinach leaves. drizzle about half a bottle of the deep-roasted sesame dressing into the content and mix thoroughly. additionally, you can also sprinkle fried sesame seeds onto the top of the mixture.

soba noodles are made from buckwheat (soba) and they are as thick, or rather as thin, as spaghetti. here, in australia, you can get the soba noodles from most asian grocery stores. in singapore, they are available at most supermarkets, including the ntuc's. of course, you can get them at any supermarkets selling japanese food.

the deep-roasted sesame japanese dressing has a rich flavour and comes with a light aftertaste. it costs about aud$6.00 a bottle. the slightly bigger bottle, not of the same brand, costs aud$7.50 in the korean food store.

these baby spinach leaves are readily available in australian supermarkets. in singapore, you can get them from the cold storage supermarkets.

this is the inari (fried tofu) which we cut into strips before adding it to the noodles. you can get this inari from both the japanese and korean food stores. they come packed in a plastic bag.

there is one more ingredient i have not mentioned - that is the soft boiled eggs. cook four eggs in boiling water for exactly 8 minutes. put the eggs in when the water is boiling, not before. when they have cooled down, peel the shells and cut each egg into four of five slices.