"What I can't wait to do, is to taste the difference between the fresh soba noodles, as opposed to the dried soba noodles that we all know from the supermarket," says Justine Schofield, host of Justine's Flavours of Fuji, as she embarks on a soba-making lesson in the picturesque rural mountains of Shizuoka, Japan.
Made from the ground seeds of the buckwheat plant, the earthy, nutty flavour of soba noodles, plus their low-gluten (or gluten-free), low-fat, high-protein, high-vitamin B1 content, and lightness make them a popular choice around the world. While instant soba noodles have been available in Japan since 1963, and are easily found in supermarkets in Australia, handmade ("teuchi") soba noodles have been made in Japan for hundreds of years.
Soba itself has been cultivated even longer than this, since prehistoric times. It did take several thousand years though until they reached the noodle point—at first, the grains were eaten whole, hulled and steamed (like pictured below); then, after stone mills arrived in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) from China, the grains were ground into flour and made into dumplings for soups or boiled and served with dressings. It was in the 16th Century that the first mention of "cut soba" appeared in literature, and their popularity boomed during the Edo period.
Soba noodles
"Different regions specialise in different types of noodles," says Justine.
Soba plants are traditionally grown in areas too steep or desolate for rice cultivation, as the hardy plants require little space or water—especially compared to rice paddies. In Shizuoka, aside from the landscape, soba noodles were popularised by Tokugawa Ieyasu (the first Shogun of the Edo period, and an extremely influential character), who retired to Shizuoka, and whose dish of choice was soba noodles. Another unique soba found in Shizuoka is cha-soba. Cha-soba incorporates some powdered green tea into the dough mixture, for a bright-green hued, grassy-tasting noodle.
Soba noodles can now be found everywhere in Japan from hole-in-the-wall joints to upmarket restaurants and even roadhouses, all to the unwaveringly excellent standard the country is known for, and it's the latter where Justine heads for her lesson.
"These roadhouses aren't like the Aussie roadhouses, here in the mountains particularly, you can find soba noodles. Not soba noodles from a packet, but fresh soba noodles, made every single day," says Justine.
Assisted by a local soba master who has been making the noodles for over 30 years, Justine shares the key steps in the process, assuring us that, "It is really easy to make fresh soba noodles at home". Here are the tips:
1. The flour
"The first step to making soba noodles, is the flour".
Soba noodles are traditionally made entirely of buckwheat flour, which contains no gluten, making it difficult to work with. In the Edo period, soba chefs discovered that a ratio of 20% wheat flour to 80% buckwheat flour ("ni-hachi soba") was the ideal combination for smooth, elastic noodles.
2. Kneading
The dough is brought gently together, to ensure the liquid content is correct.
“We’ve just put a little bit of water in at the beginning, and it seemed like it was going to be quite dry, but it’s not, it’s really moist.”
Then, it’s kneaded, using a special technique of putting your thumb in the middle and bringing the dough around it, to form an almost rose-like shape (very poetic!).
3. Rolling
Ok, so this is the hardest part. The trick here is to use the palms of your hands and rub them in a circular motion on the rolling pin to roll out the dough.
"The rolling part is very important, it's laminating the two flours together with the water."
4. Folding and cutting
"Next, the dough is folded to make it easier to cut into straight, thin noodles."
Soba is such an ancient art in Japan, it has its own knife to cut the dough into noodles: the soba-kiri knife. The knife looks much like a cleaver with a chunk missing from the back. It's heavy, to help cut through the noodles, and the cutting edge is straight and long to cut the noodles straight and evenly to the board—but you could use any cleaver or sharp, heavy knife.
"After mixing the flours together, kneading it, folding it, and then slicing it, it's actually not a difficult process," says Justine.
Now, it's time to cook and eat
Classically, soba noodles are served plain on a bamboo basket, accompanied by a cup of tsuyu (a soy sauce and dashi-based dipping sauce), shredded nori, freshly grated wasabi, and finely sliced spring onions. You'll find a set in every soba restaurant - and pretty much every convenience store - in Japan.
These days, soba noodles are eaten in a myriad of ways. Hot and cold, in broths, salads, and used in place of other starches like pasta or rice.
If you're looking for the perfect excuse to try out making soba noodles, why not give them a try for New Year's Eve? "Toshikoshi soba" literally means "to jump from something old to something new", and is a Japanese folkloric tradition of eating soba noodles on New Year's. There are various explanations for this: that the length of the noodles represents longevity in life; that, as the noodles are easily bitten, it symbolises the “cutting off” of regrets from the previous year; and, that the heartiness of the buckwheat plant represents resilience. And surely yet another—that they‘re healthy and taste incredible, and the perfect meal to see in a New Year.
