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Soba are thin brown buckwheat noodles, usually cooked and served
with various toppings and condiments. The standard form is kake soba, "soba
in broth". Kake soba consists of cooked soba noodles in a bowl of hot broth
made of dashi, mirin, and shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) and topped with sliced
green onions.
In Japan, soba noodles are served in a variety of situations. They are
a popular inexpensive fast food at train stations throughout Japan, they are
served by exclusive and expensive specialty restaurants, and they are also
made at home. Markets sell instant condensed broth and dried noodles to make
home preparation easy. The most famous Japanese soba noodles come from
Nagano. Soba from Nagano is called Sinano Soba. Other popular noodles in
Japan are udon, ramen, and somen.
Soba is also common throughout the United States, usually served as
soba in broth (kake soba) or chilled noodles with nori (zaru soba) in the
many Japanese restaurants and sushi restaurants in the country. It is also a
common foodstuff sold at American grocery stores (usually in an Asian
section).
 Common Soba Dishes:
Like many Japanese noodles, soba noodles are often served chilled in the
summer and hot in the winter. Toppings are chosen to reflect the seasons and
to balance with other ingredients. Most toppings are added without much
cooking.
- Kake soba - Hot soba noodles in dark broth, often topped solely
with sliced green onions or sliced Japanese long onions.
- Mori soba - Chilled soba noodles, eaten in summer. The noodles are
boiled, chilled, and then served on a flat basket or plate. Accompanied by a
chilled dipping sauce, usually a strong mixture of dashi, mirin, and shoyu.
Eaten with wasabi.
- Zaru soba - mori soba topped with shredded nori seaweed.
- Kitsune soba - Hot soba in broth topped with abura age (deep-fried
tofu).
- Tempura soba - Hot soba in broth topped with various tempura items,
especially shrimp.
- Tanuki soba - Hot soba in broth topped with deep-fried tempura batter
(ten-kasu).
- Hiyashi tanuki - Cold tanuki soba. Eaten in the summer.
- Tsukimi soba - Hot soba in broth with an egg. A raw egg is allowed to poach
in the hot soup.
- Tororo soba - Hot soba in broth topped with Japanese tororo potato.
- Hiyashi tororo - Cold tororo soba. Eaten in the summer.
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