Soba

Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour, eaten hot in broth or cold with a dipping sauce. The name is the Japanese word for buckwheat.

What it really is

Classic soba is made from buckwheat flour mixed with water, sometimes with a share of wheat flour added to help the dough bind. The dough is rolled into sheets, folded and cut into thin strands, then boiled briefly and rinsed in cold water so they keep their texture. Pure buckwheat noodles (juwari soba) are darker, more fragile and have a stronger, nuttier flavour than the common wheat-blended kind.

Cold soba (zaru soba) is served on a bamboo tray with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, mirin and dashi, with grated daikon and spring onion on the side. Hot soba (kake soba) is served in a broth made from dashi, soy sauce and mirin. Soba is often confused with udon, which is a thick wheat noodle, and with somen, a very thin wheat noodle. Soba is distinguished by its grey-brown colour and its buckwheat flavour.

How it's served

• Cold on a bamboo tray (zaru soba) with dipping sauce, grated daikon and sliced spring onion, eaten by dipping small portions.
• Hot in a bowl of broth (kake soba), often topped with spring onion, tempura or a raw egg.
• Eaten with slurping, which is considered normal in Japan and helps cool the noodles.
• Often finished with the cooking water (sobayu) poured into the dipping sauce or broth.

How to write it on the menu

• Write "soba (buckwheat noodles)" and name the broth or dipping sauce, for example zaru soba with dashi-soy dipping sauce.
• State that the noodles contain wheat if wheat flour is used in the dough, and that soy sauce contains wheat and soy.
• Name any toppings such as tempura, egg or fish cake, as these carry their own allergens.
• Specify whether the dish is served hot (kake) or cold (zaru), as the two are different dishes.