Cold soba with dipping sauce (Memil-guksu: 메밀국수)

Step 1

Combine 2 teaspoons wasabi powder and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl. Mix well and cover. Set aside. Grate the daikon and transfer to a strainer over a bowl. Set aside. Toast the both sides of the seaweed paper until it's very crunchy. Shred thinly with kitchen scissors, and keep it in a plastic bag to keep it from getting soggy. Set aside Combine the tsuyu sauce and the cold water in a small bowl. Stir it to mix well. Set aside.

Step 2

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the noodles. Stir them with a wooden spoon to prevent them from sticking to each other. Cover and cook for 6 to 7 minutes over medium high heat. If it boils over, crack the lid a bit or keep it off. About 6 minutes later, take a sample of the noodles and taste it. If it's cooked nicely, remove from the heat. If it's still a little uncooked, cook 1 or 2 minutes longer. Drain the noodles through a strainer. Rinse them under cold running water, rubbing with both hands until the noodles get cold and not slippery anymore. As a final step, fill a large bowl with cold water with some ice cubes, to make the noodles very cold and chewier. Drain and make 6 equal size bundles. Place them on a bamboo mat on a large platter. Sprinkle some chopped green onion over top of each bundle and add some shredded gim, too.

Step 3

Divide the sauce into 2 bowls. Add the grated daikon, green onion, a few ice cubes to each bowl. Place the noodle platter along with the wasabi sauce in the center of the table. Prepare an individual plate, chopsticks for each person.

Step 4

Take a bundle of the noodles with chopsticks and transfer to an individual plate. Take some noodles, dip them into the sauce, and eat. When the bundle on your plate is done, take another. If you find the melting ice has diluted the dipping sauce, you can add some more tsuyu sauce if you want. Once your noodles are done, you can drink the sauce! Enjoy the cool noodles!