Soba Noodles: Exploring One of Japan's Most Traditional.

Soba is a very famous food for Japanese people. In Japan, when eating soba, it’s not only acceptable to slurp to enjoy the flavour, but it’s regarded as a necessary part of enjoying the noodles. In a lot of other cultures, this is a strange manner and might even been seen as rude – but in Japan, go for it! Also, you might not be familiar with what to do with all the little dishes that come with the noodles, not to mention the sobayu (to water that soba is cooked in and presented in a teapot), so I’ll walk you through how to eat the soba and also talk about some common menu items.

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To be honest, I don’t really understand the difference between “good soba” and “bad soba”. Actually, I’ve never eaten soba and thought: “This soba is disgusting! I’ll never eat this shop’s soba again!”. It’s always good to me. Some gourmets say the aroma is different or the texture is different, but I think the most important part is the taste of the sauce or broth.

Also, people say that slurping soba is good manners when eating, but I think it can get pretty messy and it’s easy to accidentally splatter some of the sauce on yourself. If you eat soba without slurping, don’t worry – no one will think you have bad manners. Of course, if you do want to slurp, that’s no problem either! Personally, even though I’m Japanese, I eat noodles without slurping because it’s the easiest way for me.

About soba noodles

Soba dough is made from powdered buckwheat, flour, eggs, yam, etc. Then the dough is rolled out and then cut into thin pieces with a special rectangular knife. Buckwheat likes cool temperatures, and, interestingly, it prefers infertile land, so it used as a salvage crop or as a natural fertiliser. If the land is too fertile the plant grows too much and this will result in a poor crop. This makes it a great alternative for areas in Japan that struggle to grow rice.

The types of soba

Juuwari-soba

十割蕎麦/ じゅうわりそば
Juuwari means one hundred percent, so juuwari-soba means it's made of 100% buckwheat. In the early Edo period, this was the only kind of soba available. It's very difficult to bring a dough together using only buckwheat, so usually flour is added to it. This means that a 100% buckwheat soba requires an incredibly skilled chef working with high quality buckwheat. Famous soba shops that sell this type of soba are showing that they have a skilled chef in the restaurant, and you can expect quality noodles.

This soba is characterised by the aroma and the texture. It's made of only buckwheat and water so you can enjoy the purest taste. Also the texture is very firm, and it's cut thicker than other varieties because the dough is so stiff that cutting it too thinly risks tearing when it's boiled.

Nihachi-soba

二八蕎麦/ にはちそば
Nihachi means two-eight , so nihachi-soba means it's made of 80% buckwheat and 20% flour. But, depending on the shop, different quantities are used. Some might use 20g of flour and 80g of buckwheat to make 100g of soba dough, while others use 20g of flour and 100g of buckwheat to make 120g of soba dough. Nihachi-soba is the most popular type. The dough is easy to make compared to juuwari-soba, so it can be cut thinly.

In the early Edo period, juuwari-soba was the only kind provided in soba shops, but people started adding flour to the buckwheat dough from the middle of the Edo period. It quickly became popular because the texture is smoother and easy to swallow. Some people might worry that reducing the buckwheat content reduces the flavour, but, in general, the taste of buckwheat isn't so strong anyway. This soba has a nice delicate and refreshing flavour.

popular cold soba
冷たいそば

If you want to enjoy the aroma and the original soba texture, I recommend eating it cold. Even if the noodle is firm, it’s easy for it to get soggy in a warm soup.

There are two different ways that cold soba is served: either the sauce and noodles are separate or they’re in the same bowl. You can usually tell the difference by the name: if it starts with hiyashi (冷やし/ひやし), it’s served in the same bowl, and if it doesn’t, it’s served separately. This does depend on the shop though.

Tororo-soba

とろろ蕎麦/ とろろそば
Tororo is grated yam - which looks like a sticky white paste. Some people might be put off by the slimy sticky look of it, but it contains high levels of soluble fiber which brings your cholesterol down, suppresses the increase in blood glucose level after meals, and activates good bacteria in the intestines. So it's great for your health. It doesn't have a strong taste so usually people enjoy it for the sticky texture.

Tororo-soba is zaru-soba with tororo. Usually tororo and the sauce are provided separately, so mix the tororo into the sauce before eating, then dip the soba into it and eat!

Nameko-soba

なめこ蕎麦/ なめこそば
Nameko are tiny, slimy brown mushrooms. They contain beta-glucan which activates good bacteria in the intestines, and also contain chondroitin and niacin, so they're good for your skin - great for a hangover too! Nameko don't have a strong mushroom flavour so even if you don't like mushrooms, you might like these.

Nameko-soba is zaru-soba with nameko. Usually the nameko are already in the broth when it's served, so just dip the soba in the sauce and eat.

popular warm soba
温かいそば

I like warm soba in the winter season. For me, I feel more satisfied after warm soba than I do cold soba (probably because I love ramen). Personally I prefer eating warm soba in every season except summer when it’s just too hot outside.

How to eat

menues

Tamon (Jindaiji Chofu)

Daishi Chaya (Jindaiji Chofu)

Shimadaya (Jindaiji Chofu)

Recommendation

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recommendation

I recommend warm tempura-soba. The oil from the tempura batter makes the soup mild, which I like. I also like tororo-soba (zaru-soba with grated yam) – the texture of the soba with the tororo is amazing.

1 %

recommendation

My favourite cold soba is tenzaru (soba with tempura). I prefer the crispy batter of the tempura when it’s served on the side – in warm soba it tends to get a bit soggy.

If I want warm soba, I usually go for sansai-soba. It’s warming and satisfying on a cold day.

Soba Noodles: Exploring One of Japan's Most Traditional.

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