The key to cooking with chiles is to think of their heat not as a dare but as another essential building block of flavor, right alongside salt, acid, and fat. Rather than overpowering a dish, a perfectly calibrated prickle of spice enhances the other elements and wakes up the palate.
Recipe information
Yield
4 Servings
Ingredients
4
2
1
¾
3
1
2
2
2
2
Preparation
Step 1
Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving ¼ cup soba cooking liquid.
Step 2
Meanwhile, whisk miso, lime juice, and oil in a large bowl. Chop halved chiles, garlic, and a pinch of salt together on a cutting board, then use the side of chef’s knife to mash into a paste. Transfer to bowl with miso mixture and mix well. Add scallions, chopped basil, and cilantro and toss to combine; season pesto with salt.
Step 3
Add soba, watercress, and sliced chile to pesto and toss, adding reserved soba cooking liquid by the teaspoonfuls as needed, until nicely coated.
Step 4
Serve noodles topped with torn basil and sesame seeds.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (3)
Back to TopReally liked how original this was, but the balance of flavors wasn't exactly to my taste. Used 1 cup chopped basil (and very fresh basil, right off the plant) and it was just too much. The chile pesto was very good, though, and not too hot. I would make again, but increasing the proportion of scallions and decreasing the proportion of basil, and upping the amount of sesame oil used in the initial pesto mixture. Thanks, Chris, as always! Pro tip on cooking soba (from Japanese cooking show): Soak soba in cold water until it's a little pliable (maybe 10 minutes), then boil for 3 minutes. Make sure to drain and rinse with cold water. These noodles just want to be mushy, so you gotta fight it!
4lison
SC
7/14/2020