Cookbook Club Recipe #12 | Variation #4

Mentsuyu does the heavy lifting for you in this dish, bringing all the sweetness, savoriness, and umami you want in a soup.

These soup jars take a little bit more work up front (meal prepping is your friend), but once they’re put together, lunch or a hearty snack is just a kettle of boiling water away. You can find a full breakdown to help you come up with your own flavor combinations in my guide to DIY Instant Soup Jars.

Mentsuyu is a particularly convenient starting point for a soup jar. This Japanese noodle-soup concentrate combines dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, so you can build a seasoned broth from a single bottle. I used a homemade version in the video, but store-bought works well.

The egg and fried tofu go at the bottom, where they can pick up flavor from the concentrate while the jar sits. Thinly sliced snow peas add a little crunch, and the soba goes on top to keep it out of the wet base. Scallions added just before eating give everything a fresh finish.

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Recipe: Soba Noodle Soup with Tofu and Egg in a Jar

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I love about this recipe:

Mentsuyu supplies the broth’s savory flavor, sweetness, and seasoning in one ingredient.

The eggs pick up some of the soy-based seasoning while the jars sit in the refrigerator.

Fried tofu soaks up the broth.

Thinly sliced snow peas keep a pleasant crunch.

Cooking and chilling the soba ahead makes the jars quick to assemble.

Yields: 4 small servings or 2 large onesActive Time: 15 minutesTotal Time: About 20 minutes, using cooked and chilled noodles and eggsSpecial Equipment: Four wide-mouth, pint-size heatproof jars with lids, or two quart-sized jars; small zipper-lock bags or resealable sauce containers

Notes: Use jars intended for boiling liquids, following the manufacturer’s instructions regarding temperature changes. Mentsuyu varies in concentration; use the bottle’s dilution instructions for hot noodle soup rather than dipping sauce. The amount below assumes a ratio of 1 part concentrate to roughly 5 parts water. Cook soba according to package directions, then rinse thoroughly under cold running water and drain well. Use plain, ready-to-eat fried tofu, or substitute firm tofu. I used soft-boiled eggs in the video; use hard-boiled eggs for jars you plan to keep for several days.

Ingredients

About 1 cup (240 ml) concentrated mentsuyu, adjusted according to its dilution instructions (see notes above)

4 large boiled eggs, peeled and chilled

4 ounces (115 g) fried tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup (100 g) snow peas, strings removed and pods very thinly sliced on the bias

3 cups (400 g) cooked soba noodles, chilled and drained well

4 scallions, thinly sliced

Boiling water, for serving

Method

Add your ingredients to the jar. Divide mentsuyu, eggs, tofu, snow peas, and noodles evenly between 4 resealable heatproof jars or 2 larger jars, adding them in that order. Divide scallions between 4 small zipper-lock bags (or 2 bags if using larger jars) and seal bags, squeezing out all of the air (or use small resealable sauce containers). Tuck bags into jars and seal. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Serve and enjoy. When ready to serve, remove scallion packet and add boiling water to the top of the jar. Cover and let sit 2 minutes. Open jar and stir thoroughly to distribute the soup base and loosen the noodles, breaking up the egg with your spoon or chopsticks if you like. Stir in scallions and serve.

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