The three traditional pasta dishes in Japan were named the originators

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📝 About soba noodles

What is Buckwheat?

Buckwheat is not wheat, both barley and wheat come from the grass family, while buckwheat is a plant in the knotweed family, which is an annual herbaceous plant. Buckwheat is found in both Asian and European countries. Soba noodles are made by grinding the fruits of buckwheat into flour, adding water to form a dough, and then cutting them into thin noodles.

The history of soba

Buckwheat cultivation in Japan began as early as the Jomon period, but due to the limitations of milling technology at that time, buckwheat grains were simply cooked and eaten. Buckwheat was made into noodles in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when soba noodles were called "koba cut". After the mid-17th century, soba became popular throughout Japan, mainly in Edo.

Types of soba noodles

According to the production method, it can be divided into "hand-made soba" and "machine-made noodles". Hand-made soba noodles are made by hand, including mixing, cutting, boiling, and washing.
There are also different types of soba noodles according to the proportion of buckwheat flour, and the higher the ratio, the stronger the buckwheat flavor, but the elasticity of pure buckwheat flour is insufficient, so adding appropriate wheat flour will make the taste smoother.
Among the menus offered by professional soba restaurants, the most common ones are "Jusei Soba" and "Nihachi Soba". The content of buckwheat flour in "Ten Percent Buckwheat" is 100%, and the proportion of "Twenty-eight Buckwheat" is 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. "Erba buckwheat" has a better taste, and "Ten Percent buckwheat" has a stronger buckwheat flavor.

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There are also three types of soba noodles made from the flour of different parts of the buckwheat grain: shoko soba, tansho soba, and sansho soba.

Sako Buckwheat

Using the white part of the "Ichiban flour" in the center of the fruit, the noodles have a snow-white luster, and were considered to be the best in the Edo period.

Tasha Soba

Buckwheat is ground into flour with the hulls on, and the noodles are black in color and have a strong buckwheat aroma, so they can be eaten without dipping them in sauce, and are commonly found in the mountain villages of Nagano, Aichi, and Konoi.

Buckwheat

together with the buckwheat fruit of the "sweet skin" part of the ground into a powder, for the tea green, the more distinctive color, the stronger the aroma.

🤗 Preparation of soba noodles

01 Cold soba noodles

This is the most common way to eat, called "sheng", and Chinese cold noodles are the same concept.

After the noodles are cooked in boiling water, the mucus is washed off in cold water, and they are served in a four-cornered steamer or bamboo spoon and dipped in a special sauce.

02 Hot noodles with buckwheat

Another common way to eat it, called "hanging", is actually noodle soup.

Boiled soba noodles are served in a bowl with a hot sauce, and chopped green onions and shichimi chishi chili are often used, as well as citrus peels and sansho peels. Rich side dishes such as tempura, duck, yam, egg, and kujo green onion are often added depending on the region and season.

🤗 How to eat soba

🔘 Enjoy the first bite straight

After the soba noodles are served, it is recommended to take the first bite without dipping anything into it and put it directly in the mouth. In this way, you can taste the freshest aroma of buckwheat.

🔘 Don't mind making a sound

Just like eating ramen, you don't have to worry about sucking noodles too loudly and feeling indecent in Japan. Only by inhaling soba can the subtle fragrance of soba expand into the nasal cavity, so remember to be "wanton" next time you eat soba!

🔘 Dip the sauce in moderation

This is because the soba sauce is usually made with high-concentration soy sauce or dried bonito, both of which are very flavorful ingredients. If you dip all the soba noodles into the sauce, the aroma of the noodles will be overshadowed.

🤗 Soba "trivia”

🔘 The Best Time to Eat Soba

Soba noodles are available all year round, but there are two best times to enjoy them: November, when the buckwheat is harvested, when the flavor of the buckwheat is more intense. And then there is the hot summer, soba cold noodles refreshing and delicious, who does not want to have a cool relief!

🔘 The special meaning of buckwheat noodles

Japanese people eat soba on New Year's Day and when they move, so what is the significance of this?

Eating soba across the New Year is called "Niigoshi soba", because Japanese people eat soba noodles will not bite off from the soba, so eat a bite of long, thin soba noodles means that the family's health and longevity, and will not give up halfway through the business, and have a beginning and an end.

Eating soba noodles when moving is called "Inkoshi soba", which refers to giving soba noodles to neighbors when greeting them after moving. Because soba is pronounced "そば (soba)" in Japanese, which is the same as the Japanese word for "be", I gave a soba to my neighbor after moving, saying, "I want to live next to you and be your neighbor, so please take care of me!" ”

🤗 Recommended soba shops in Tokyo

01 Sakura-tei

@Kagurazaka

1F Kagurazakan Hall, 3-6 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Kagurazaka's one Michelin-starred soba store serves traditional handmade soba, both hot and cold. They are also famous for their tempura, so be sure to try one.

02 Soba&Co.

@Kamiya-cho

5-12-8 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo

This soba is not so "old-fashioned", there are a lot of creative dishes fusion, out of the traditional Japanese, with a combination of Western ingredients, of course, soba is still the main feature.

03 Hand-beaten soba Ozawa(手打蕎麦おざわ)

@Asakusa

2-25-15 Nishi-Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo

The special feature is its unique wide noodles, and I am used to eating thin buckwheat, so I really want to taste what kind of texture it is like to have such a wide noodles!

04 Hamacho Kaneko

@Hamacho

3-7-3 Nihonbashi Hamacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Hand-cut ultra-fine soba noodles are the most popular way to eat cold noodles. The restaurant also has a variety of side dishes, including tempura, raw egg beef, and more

05 Leeum

@Shirakanedai

5-17-2 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo

The old store in 1985 has a unique simple folk style. The soba noodles are made entirely by hand, with fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. Signature dishes include steamed buckwheat, garden buckwheat, thick egg roast, etc.

06 Osoba no Kouzou

@Roppongi

2-14-5 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo

It's not common to have simple soba noodles with fresh sea urchins, right? This sea urchin soba is the signature feature, and there are many "weird" noodles, such as citrus cold buckwheat and oyster buckwheat. Curious diners can collect it!