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Crab soba with maitake mushrooms and pea shoots

Chewy, cool soba noodles with briny Dungeness crab, earthy maitake mushrooms and fresh pea shoots make an easy, light summer dinner. Ittadakimasu!

Yield: 4 servings

2
tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2
tbsp sake or rice wine
1
tbsp mirin*
½
tsp sesame oil (preferably toasted)
2
or 3 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1
clove garlic, minced fine
¼
tsp black sesame seeds
sprinkle shichimi (nanami togarashi)*
pinch of salt (or MSG)
½
lb Dungeness lump crab meat
1
Persian cucumber (or half an English hothouse cuke)
2
scallions
¼
lb maitake mushroom (it will likely be one fist-sized mushroom)
2
or 3 handfuls of pea shoots
1
8oz. package of soba (buckwheat noodles)*
*Available at most Asian grocery stores or in the Asian section of conventional groceries

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, shichimi and salt and whisk together. Add the crab. Thinly slice the cucumber and scallion on the bias (at an angle; it's prettier) and add to the dressing and crab.

Rinse and pat dry the maitake mushroom. Trim away any woody parts of the stem, then break up the mushroom into bite-sized pieces. Saute the mushroom pieces in a small pan in a drizzle of sesame oil (or light cooking oil) until al dente. Remove from heat and after it's cooled for a few minutes, add to the bowl of dressing to marinate.

Wash the pea shoots well (triple-rinse is recommended), pull the leaves off and chop the stems into 2" pieces.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the soba according to directions. Three minutes after adding the soba to the boiling water, add the pea shoots so they can blanch for two or three minutes. Drain the soba and pea shoots in a colander and rinse in cold water until the soba are lukewarm. Drain well.

Add the soba and pea shoots to the bowl of dressing/crab/veggies and gently toss to combine, taking care not to break up the crab meat.

Top each serving with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and more shichimi (to taste). Enjoy with a glass of premium reishu (chilled sake).