If you’re looking for a tasty summer dish that isn’t time consuming, this tuna udon salad should be at the top of your list. Besides being absolutely delicious, it is a beautiful bowl filled with udon noodles, rich and flavorful tuna in olive oil, crisp cucumbers, radishes and watercress. Feel free to come up with your own version using different vegetables such as shredded iceberg lettuce or red cabbage, julienned carrots, bean sprouts and so on. Ever since I spotted this recipe on Carolyn’s Food Gal blog I knew it was something I would thoroughly enjoy. I tweaked the recipe a bit by omitting the wakame which I have never been a big fan of, but use it if you fancy it.
Be sure to use a good canned tuna in olive oil for this dish. Tuna in olive oil is silky, tender and so flavorful. I recently read an article in Cook’s Illustrated that rated canned tuna in olive oil. Ortiz took top honors as did Tonnino (6.7 ounce jar). But these brands may be difficult to find. However, they also recommended a few brands that are more widely available; Starkist Selects solid yellowfin tuna in extra virgin olive and Wild Planet albacore in extra virgin olive oil.
I sliced the vegetables very thin so they melded nicely with the silky noodles and buttery tuna. Placing the sliced radishes in an ice water bath for a few minutes helps to crisp them up.
There are so many miso options these days, I always have a few tubs of them on hand. I am quite fond of Cold Mountain’s mellow white miso. It lends the perfect flavor to many dishes, including the dressing for this recipe.
The dressing for this tuna noodle salad is very simple to make. Whisk the ingredients in a bowl and you’re all set. The dressing would also be excellent for any crunchy salad such as iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, red and green cabbage.
- Salad:
- 6 ounces dried udon noodles (Hakubaku is a good choice)
- 1 small Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 medium red radish, thinly sliced and soaked in an ice water bath for 10 minutes
- handful of watercress, chopped (optional)
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- nori, cut into thin strips
- 1 can tuna in olive oil, drained slightly (I used Ortiz)
- 1 teaspoon furikake or roasted sesame seeds
- Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (Kikkoman recommended)
- 2 tablespoons mellow miso paste
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the udon noodles and cook according to package instructions. Pour the noodles into a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain very well. Set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
- Transfer the drained noodles to large bowl (it's best if the noodles are free of any water to ensure the dressing doesn't get diluted). Add some of the dressing to the noodles, tossing to coat them thoroughly. Divide the noodles among 2 bowls (shallow rather than deep). Arrange the cucumbers, radishes, watercress, green onions and nori around the perimeter of each bowl. Place the tuna in the center of the bowls, sprinkle with furikake or sesame seeds. Serve extra dressing on the side.
