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Home » 1,000 Foods To Eat Project

Amazing Soba! - 1000 Foods To Eat Project

Jun 18, 2020Last Modified: August 18, 2020

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This page may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. This post is about delicious Soba Noodles!

Soba noodles in a bowl, soba sauce in a bowl, and green onions, wasabi, grated daikon and chopsticks

I am currently working on my 1,000 Foods to Eat Project. This project is based on the book 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die, by Mimi Sheraton. The back of the book jacket states that the book contains "the tastes, ingredients, restaurants, dishes, and recipes (more than 70) that every food lover should experience or dream about." As I am a food lover, I certainly didn't want to miss out on anything, so I purchased this book and began my project.

1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die Front Jacket
1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die

Soba is Food #32 🙂

Soba is made from buckwheat flour and is Food #32 in my project. It is sort of like spaghetti and it's entirely delicious! This delightful noodle is very popular in Japan, and now it's popular world over!

My understanding is that making fresh soba is an art and pretty complicated. Fortunately there are many dried varieties available that are easy for the home cook to prepare and enjoy!

My Experience With Soba In Japan

The first time I tried soba on our trip was on a Japan Airlines flight to Japan. Doesn't get much better than that! Here is the soba we were served as part of our lunch. It is on the left, just underneath the cup of wine.

Lunch on Japan Airlines Flight

The soba was cold, and it was garnished with seaweed and sliced scallions. To the left of the wine you will see the bottle of "Noodle Sauce." We poured this sauce into the soba and enjoyed it immensely!

The second time I tried soba was in a restaurant in Kanazawa, Japan. This time the soba was in a hot broth! You can see the menu options below, followed by the soba that I ordered and enjoyed. The soba I had included some delicious tempura. 🙂

Japanese menu with hot soba noodle options
hot soba noodles with tempura in a bowl with chopsticks
soba noodles in a bowl with chopsticks and tempura
Doesn't this look absolutely delicious?!

I tell you, this hot soba with tempura was absolutely incredible and I truly fell in love with soba when I was in Japan!

So, I was able to experience soba served both hot and cold while en route to Japan or in Japan. They were both so good. It seems that soba is generally served cold for summer, and hot for winter. Makes sense to me!

By the way, here is a picture of the knife used to make soba in Japan. Pretty impressive don't you think?

soba noodle knives

My Experience With Soba At Home In Texas

Here I am in Texas on the cusp of summer, and yearning for soba noodles again. For now, it's got to be some cold soba!

I can't tell you how refreshing and how much my husband and I enjoyed this meal! You can enjoy a delicious cold soba meal so quickly and easily. All you need is a pack of dried soba noodles, some Soba noodle sauce, sliced scallions, finely grated daikon radish, and wasabi.

dried soba noodles in a package
soba sauce with bowls of soba sauce

I bought these from my local Asian market. However, I am including links for recommended soba noodles and soba sauce here to purchase on Amazon if you are interested.

The scallions, daikon radish, and wasabi completely elevate this dish to the divine as far as I'm concerned. 🙂 The scallions should be finely diced. And I used a box grater to finely grate the daikon radish.

soba noodles, diced scallions, wasabi, and finely grated daikon radish on a serving plate

Basically all you need to do is boil the soba noodles according to package directions. It only takes a few minutes. Then drain and chill the noodles for a few minutes until cold.

soba noodles in a white bowl with chopsticks, white bowl with soba sauce, and daikon, wasabi, and scallions on a white serving tray

Place some of the soba sauce in a dipping bowl, and then put your chilled noodles in another bowl. I recommend adding the scallions and daikon (to taste) to your soba sauce. However, it's fun to put a bit of wasabi on the tip of your chopsticks, scoop up some of the soba, dip into the soba sauce, and then SLURP AWAY!

SLURP SLURP!

Ok I haven't even discussed slurping yet! It seems in Japan it is perfectly acceptable to slurp these noodles noisily! So please enjoy making a lot of slurping sounds when enjoying this dish!

Soba is the perfect noodle to slurp with!

COOKING WATER AND SOBA SAUCE

Last but not least, I want to mention that a lot of people like to mix some of the cooking water used to cook the soba with some of your leftover soba sauce. You will warm up a little of the cooking water to add to the sauce, and then drink it down. I didn't try this this time, but I will next time. 🙂

I really hope you will enjoy some cold soba soon! You will love it!

Some Other Foods You May Enjoy

Easy and Delicious Gyudon Japanese Beef Bowl

beef and onions simmering in a sauce

Okinawan Carrots

Okinawan Carrots

If you'd like to come along on this food journey with me, please sign up to get the latest recipes and inspiration for you to expand your food comfort zone! It's an incredible journey, please join me by signing up here. 🙂

Cheers!

Grace

soba noodles in a white bowl with chopsticks, white bowl with soba sauce, and daikon, wasabi, and scallions on a white serving tray

Cold Soba Noodles With Dipping Sauce

Grace
Cold Soba noodles are so refreshing on a warm day! Served with a delicious dipping sauce and wasabi, daikon radish, and scallions, you'll be craving this time and time again!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 4 mins
Total Time 9 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 150 grams soba noodles I used Sukina brand
  • soba sauce I used Assi brand
  • 2 scallions finely diced
  • 2 inches daikon radish peeled and finely grated
  • wasabi few dollops of wasabi!

Instructions
 

  • Cook your soba in boiling water according to package directions (I boiled mine for 4 minutes). Drain and run cold water over the noodles. Place in the fridge for a few minutes to continue to chill.
  • Prep your scallions and daikon radish. I used a box grater to grate mine.
  • Pour some soba sauce in a small dipping bowl. Add some scallions and radish to the soba sauce, and wasabi if you like! Dip the cold soba noodles into the soba sauce, and slurp away!

Notes

Rather than pouring the soba sauce onto the noodles, try dipping the noodles in the soba sauce instead.  Enjoy with some wasabi on the top of your chopsticks as well!  
Keyword Noodles, soba, sobanoodles
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About Me

Hi I’m Grace! I'm married and a mom to my fur baby, Toby, and food and travel are two of my greatest passions! Since our bank account does not allow us to travel or eat out as much as we'd like, I decided I would cook delicious meals that could give us a taste of all the places we'd like to go. My goal is to get you in the kitchen, and inspire you to cook and taste delightful meals that will transport you too. Let’s throw some actual travel in from time to time, all with an emphasis on keeping your wallet full and happy as well. Let’s get cooking and let’s start exploring!! I'm excited to be on this journey with you!!

By the way most of these recipes are Toby taste tested and Toby approved!!

Chief Taste Tester Toby

Toby Chief Taste Tester

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