Soba noodles with aubergine and mango from Plenty (page 112) by Yotam Ottolenghi

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Ingredients

caster sugar
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- King Arthur Baking - United States
basil
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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

louisa_b4qots on March 30, 2026

Perfect for Summer! May be an option to airfry the aubergines to make it healthier?
Hiker010 on January 10, 2026

Made Sept 2019 Good! Would make again
Schooffiecooks on December 31, 2025

My most made recipe from Plenty!!!
mic_cherry on May 01, 2025

Absolutely perfect! Used half the sugar, 6oz of soba, 1 small mango, 1 small eggplant, full amount of dressing and it made about 3 large servings :) Tofu I marinated and baked, would marinate longer next time and would probably add some toasted, chopped cashews to the top. Oh I also just microwaved the vinegar/salt/sugar to dissolve because I don’t have a small enough saucepan.
Agaillard on April 23, 2025

Made again with the original version (no tofu). I made the recipe exactly just halved the quantities. This was lovely and healthy. I was lucky both times with the soba, as it was perfectly al dente (and I didn't know to be careful!). I liked the mango association and for me the grilled eggplant provided enough crunch. Probably could do with peanuts or similar. I will make again, simple and good.
apw2020 on January 21, 2025

Vibrant recipe. And agree with others -- make sure the soba is not overcooked, or else it will be very mushy.
Rinshin on April 01, 2024

I like all chilled asian noodles from Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Malaysia and they are some of my favorite foods and I make them often, but I am going to be the odd one out with this soba salad. I did not care for the use of soba in this (came out strangely gummy), did not like addition of sweet mango (just seemed out of place for this type of chilled noodles, and grilled eggplant and tofu bits which did not provide any crunch you normally find in chilled noodle salads. The dressing was quite sour and sweet at the same time. If lime peel and lime juice was not added, it would be like eating puckered pickle juice. Needed more oil to balance the astringency. Better noodle choices would have been ramen, Chinese wheat noodle, somen, and rice noodle. My husband would not eat it at all and since I too was not fond of it, I tossed the leftovers unfortunately.
Anea25 on March 10, 2024

YO does it again! on the paper, it's really difficult to imagine these flavors working together but the end result is delicious, so fresh and vibrant. It will definitely become a summer favorite.
Agaillard on August 02, 2023

Loved it, especially the sauce! I used 1/4 noodles also and half an aubergine, half a mango... but made the whole sauce serving ... also didn't use tofu... I otherwise followed the recipe exactly and am really glad i stumbled upon it ... Gorgeous, healthy, full of vitamines and delicious
Pimlicocook on June 06, 2023

Fresh, delicious and easy - and can be prepared ahead. Made 1/4 noodles and dressing with one aubergine and half a mango for one person and it was a generous portion for lunch (no extra tofu required, as suggested in recipe intro). I roasted the aubergine, like many others. Would make again.
anniecc on May 31, 2023

This was delicious and quite quick for an Ottolenghi dish, I made it for a weekday lunch. I would definitely recommend roasting the aubergine in the oven - the texture is almost the same and it's much less work. I am fortunate to have access to exceptionally good Pakistani mangoes at this time of year and that really makes a difference. I also chose to marinade the red onions in the dressing along with the chili and garlic as I don't much like raw onions.
aeybkme on May 29, 2023

Absolutely delicious. Serves four as a main meal.
rhb on December 05, 2022

Fantastic recipe! I have all of the eyb comments here to thank for convincing me to try this. I subbed some things for what I had on hand; one eggplant, two mangoes, green onions instead of red, and about half the amount of basil. Noodles were done enough at around 3 minutes boil; rested for over an hour on a towel and this probably helped to make them less mushy. I will cook even less next time. I tossed the eggplant with olive oil and salt and roasted at 450 f for 15 minutes and broiled a bit at the end. More eggplant next time, for sure, but it was still great.
mjes on September 10, 2021

This is a salad I will gladly remake. Make sure the mango is ripeand adjust the sugar accordingly. The quantities on the herbs are needed.
DePollepel on August 29, 2021

great flavours and easy to make! to go with a BBQ
Ganga108 on August 18, 2021

Highly highly highly delicious! It brings together mango and charred eggplant in a way that makes it seem way out there, but is perfectly balanced. It is such a surprising combination of flavours and that makes this a memorable dish from the first bite – sweet from the mango and savoury from the eggplant. It is a beautiful noodle for hot summer nights or for a simple weeknight dinner any night of the year. The leftovers only get better in the refrigerator, so Yotham highly recommends making enough for lunch leftovers.
ChelseaP on August 05, 2021

Was a bit of a faff to fry all the eggplant but worth it in the end. Absolutely delicious!
chezmaryb on February 21, 2021

Worth the hype. A rare make again recipe for me
LFL on August 23, 2020

3.5 stars. This was good but not great. Maybe my expectations were too high since it’s so popular here on EYB. It tasted much too sweet.
Beebopalulu on December 03, 2019

Tasty but not out of this world - ratio of effort to enjoyment could be better
mharriman on July 17, 2019

As others have noted, there’s a lot of prep for this dish. That said, my husband and I thought it was delicious, especially on a very warm summer night. The fresh mango, basil, and eggplant worked well together with the noodles. I added sautéed tofu for added protein.
yellowbird531 on August 20, 2018

I did my eggplant in the oven on 450 for about 15 minutes. Saved time and mess and was delicious!
TrishaCP on August 13, 2017

Interesting treatment for soba noodles, but a bit too time-consuming to prepare without the usual Ottolenghi taste payoff (in my opinion). I also roasted the eggplant to lighten the calorie load (maybe that's why I'm not as thrilled by this one!).
finebec on May 01, 2017

To save time and calories I roasted the aubergine, using the method on page 114 of the American Ed., Eggplant tricolore. I recognize I lost the crunch quality that he likes in his dishes. Mango was a Tommy Atkins mango, from South America that I carefully ripen myself using the paper bag and Apple method. It been declared the best dish yet out of this cookbook by my family.
pistachiopeas on May 25, 2015

I really love this recipe but everything seemed a bit "wet."
cilantrolime on July 06, 2014

Tasty and interesting. Probably my current favorite noodle salad. Not very healthy though, as the fried eggplants soak up a lot of oil.
monicahorridge on July 23, 2013

Very very tasty, perfect for a lunchbox. It was quite fiddly, though, and took longer to cook than I was expecting. In future I'd make it for dinner with extra left over for lunch.
vinochic on February 23, 2012

Good recipe. I used less oil though, and next time i will probably cut back on the sugar just a bit.
bgood on November 09, 2011

Make sure soba are al dente, they go soft very quickly