Chilled buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce (Zaru soba)

1. For the dipping sauce, bring the dashi, soy sauce and mirin to the boil, simmer for 1 minute, then cool and chill.

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil – without salt.

3. Scatter the soba into the boiling water and cook for the time on the packet (about 4-5 minutes), stirring once.

4. Drain, rinse thoroughly by hand under cold running water to remove the starch, then dip in iced water and drain well.

5. Pile the noodles on a bamboo tray (zaru) or plate and scatter thin strips of nori on top.

6. Pour the cold dipping sauce into small bowls and serve with sliced spring onion and wasabi – each person stirs these in and dips the noodles a mouthful at a time.

Tip: In Japan soba is slurped: it isn't rude – it cools the noodles and brings out the flavour. At the end, the cooking water (soba-yu) is poured into the leftover sauce and drunk as a soup.