Soba is made by grinding buckwheat seeds, grinding them into flour, and then processing them into noodles. People in Japan have been eating soba since ancient times.
Soba soup is made with soy sauce and dashi made from bonito, kelp or dried shiitake mushrooms. Soba has a simpler taste than ramen, but it is said to be good for your health.
Soba noodles come in two types: hot and cold. Generally, you can order either type all year round, but in summer, when it's hot, many people order cold soba noodles.
Hot soba is served in a bowl with the noodles and soup. On the other hand, cold soba is served on a sieve. The soup is served in a separate container. People dip the noodles in the soup before eating.
When eating hot soba, people may add red chili pepper to it, and when eating cold soba, people may add wasabi to it.
There are a great many soba restaurants in Japan. Many have a long history, but there are also many soba restaurants called "tachigui soba restaurant". Tachigui soba restaurants are found inside train stations and in busy areas. In many cases, there are no seats, and people eat soba while standing. They are cheap and served very quickly. It is no exaggeration to say that they are the Japanese version of fast food restaurants.
Many soba restaurants also serve udon noodles, which are mainly made from wheat flour. There are very few people who are allergic to soba, so please be careful.
Here we will briefly explain some of the most popular types of soba noodles that are commonly ordered by ordinary people.
Kake soba (かけ蕎麦)
Kake soba basically consists of soba noodles and soup. However, it is often topped with chopped spring onions. It is a hot type of soba. It is the most basic type of soba. It is usually the cheapest soba at soba restaurants.
Zaru soba (ざる蕎麦)
Zaru soba has the same simple composition as kake soba, but it is served cold and is not topped with chopped spring onions, which are often served in a separate container.
Tenpura sob (天ぷら蕎麦)
Tempura soba is soba noodles topped with tempura. In the case of standing soba restaurants, the tempura in tempura soba is called kakiage. Kakiage is made with several kinds of chopped vegetables and small shrimp. The ingredients of kakiage are vary depending on the restaurant. It is delicious when dipped in soba soup. In the case of traditional soba restaurants, shrimp is the main ingredient used for tempura.
