When Brandon makes the sauce for these noodles, he almost never measures. As a result, they taste a little different each time. What you see below are the amounts he used on his most recent go, and a pretty delicious one at that. Really, so long as you taste and tweak, it’s hard to go wrong.

Here are a few variations to play with: Instead of peanut butter, try almond butter. Or even cashew butter. Instead of lime juice, try it with lemon. Or, try it with fresh orange juice or grapefruit juice. Because they’re less acidic, though, than lime or lemon, you’ll need to bolster them with some rice vinegar. Instead of baby bok choy, try slivers of raw spinach, scallions, or asparagus.

For the sauce:

• ½ cup well-stirred natural peanut butter, such as Adams 100% Natural Creamy
• 1 ½ tsp. soy sauce
• ¼ tsp. pressed garlic (about 1 small clove)
• ½ cup fresh lime juice
• ½ tsp. sriracha or a similar hot sauce, or more to taste
• ½ tsp. chili garlic sauce or sambal oelek, or more to taste
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. water

For the noodles:

• ½ to ¾ lb. soba noodles (see note below)
• 3 red radishes, very thinly sliced with a knife or mandolin
• 2 small (or 1 large) carrots, very thinly sliced with a knife or mandolin
• 1 medium baby bok choy, sliced from tip to root into ¼-inch-thick ribbons
• Fresh cilantro or basil leaves, for serving

First, make the sauce. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk to blend well. It may look clumpy and funny at first, but keep whisking. It will come together into a smooth, light brown sauce. Taste, and adjust to your liking. Set aside.

Meanwhile, put a large pot of water over high heat, and set a colander in the sink. When the water boils, add the soba noodles, and cook at a gently simmer – they’re fragile, so don’t boil them hard – until they are al dente. They cook pretty fast, so be careful. Do not overcook.

Drain the noodles into the colander in the sink. Then, immediately, wash them in cool water. Turn on the faucet and, using your hands, pick up small handfuls of soba and separate them between your fingers, taking care that each noodle is rinsed. “Washing” the noodles like this is a trick we learned from Tea. It helps to remove any starchy residues and keeps the noodles from clumping. (Plus, it’s kind of fun.)

Shake any excess water from the noodles, and turn them into the bowl of sauce. Using two forks, gently toss until the noodles are evenly coated. Add the radishes, carrots, and baby bok choy, and serve, topped with cilantro leaves and additional hot sauce, if you like.

Note: This quantity of sauce is a bit much for ½ pound soba. That’s how much we used, and we found it a bit too heavily dressed. Brandon worries, though, that this amount of sauce might be a little skimpy for ¾ pound. You might want to try something in the middle - maybe 10 ounces?

Yield: Two servings, plus leftovers

tags: vegetarian, vegan, pareve

source: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/09/old-switcheroo.html