This one doesn't involve sardines, but instead another often-overlooked prepard fish: gefilte fish.
Originally a way to serve a smaller fish to a larger number of people, gefilte fish is now a staple at most Jewish Passover dinners — and completely forgotten the rest of the year. It's just a bit sweet, contrasting with the strong Asian flavors of sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and wasabi (which might have been overwhelmed by the stronger taste of tinned sardines.) Soba is a quick-cooking, versatile Japanese noodle made from buckwheat, giving it a more interesting flavor than plain wheat or rice noodles.
As usual, this is a recipe which leaves a lot of room for additional experimentation.
- Boil the soba noodles according to the package. Soba is often found in bundles about 2" around, and I used half a bundle for this recipe.
- Drain and rinse the soba under cold water for a minute or so, then drain further.
- In a bowl, toss the soba with a few splashes of toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar.
- In a separate bowl, mix a small amount of prepared wasabi (to taste) with 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
- Let it all rest for a minute, then mix the wasabi & soy again.
- Place three large pieces of gefilte fish on top of the noodles, and drizzle the soy/wasabi mixture over them.
- Garnish with a good kosher dill pickle (if you can't find a really good, fresh, crispy one, don't bother.)
- Eat immediately.
