Japanese Noodles

Vol. 32 No. 3 October 2018 Kikkoman’s quarterly intercultural forum for the exchange of ideas on food THE JAPANESE TABLE 4 CLOSE-UP JAPAN: Kaitenzushi — Japanese Noodles 5 JAPANESE STYLE: Soba Chopsticks for Cooking by Ayao Okumura TASTY TRAVEL: Yokosuka Kaigun Curry Japanese cuisine includes many different types of noodles, each — with its own history and traditions. In this third installment in 6 our series about the diversity of Japanese noodles, we take a look at MORE ABOUT JAPANESE COOKING: soba buckwheat noodles. Soba, Walnut and Watercress Salad Deep-Fried Stuffed Eggplant with Somen in Tsuyu — 8 KIKKOMAN TODAY: KFI 45th Anniversary and U.S.-Japan Food Distribution Symposium/Wisconsin-U.S.-Japan Economic Development Conference Japanese Noodles Soba Soba, or buckwheat, originated appearance of soba noodles is who were predominantly wealthy in central Asia and was brought dated 1574, mentioning soba as locals, members of the literati or to Japan sometime between being made at the Joshoji temple, those from the samurai class. The 1500-500 BCE. Rice grown in located in the Kiso district of the second was in tsuji-uri: these were paddies became prevalent in Japan Shinshu region (present-day shanty-like stalls that sold soba following this time, but soba Nagano Prefecture). By the early wherever people gathered—near continued to be cultivated mainly seventeenth century, soba had been temples, at river or canal docks for food in impoverished rural introduced in Edo (today’s Tokyo), and at construction sites. These areas, where rice could not be and there it fl ourished as never stalls were stocked with dishes of grown: poor farmers subsisted on before. One reason was its pre-cooked soba noodles to which soba and sold part of their harvest. proximity to areas where soba was hot broth would be added upon Records dated 722 indicate that grown, which included the greater ordering; the food was then eaten Japan’s emperor ordered soba to be Edo area. Another was that, by the while standing. The third was in cultivated as emergency food when end of the seventeenth century, furi-uri, where peddlers sold soba there was a scanty rice harvest. the population of Edo had risen from portable stands that were to over one million, as samurai cleverly designed to hold drawers Early Soba Dishes and their servants, tradesmen and of pre-cooked soba, hot broth and Soba was originally eaten either as others from throughout the country a portable cook stove. Peddlers a gruel called soba-gayu, made by gathered to build the city and engage carried their stands from one place boiling hulled soba in water, or as in commerce. The majority of these to another, hawking their noodles. thick soba-zosui porridge, made were single men for whom soba Hailed by a customer, they set by fl avoring the gruel with miso. was prized as a fast food. The down their stall, placed the soba in As well, hulled soba groats were spread of waterwheel mill-ground a bowl and poured hot broth over pounded into fl our with a mortar fl our and the availability of simple it. Customers ate standing up in and pestle; the fl our mixed with hot hand-turned stone mills also this case as well. water was kneaded and made into facilitated the production—and thus soba-gaki. Sobagai-mochi the consumption—of soba noodles. Soba Noodle Flours cakes consisted of fl our and water The three basic kinds of soba noodles mixed then baked in the hot ashes Soba Styles that are eaten today developed around of a brazier or open fi replace. Soba noodles were served in the mid-1700s, according to how Soba-gaki and sobagai-mochi were basically three styles during the the fl our was ground. Inaka soba sometimes eaten with miso. Edo period (1603-1867): the fi rst (country-style soba) uses soba fl our Records from 1480 suggest was in restaurant-like shops made from hulled soba, where the that a noodle-like form of soba where furnishings and serving pellicle remains attached. This is a fi rst appeared among the Kyoto utensils were carefully selected. dark-colored but highly nutritious aristocracy, but the most defi nitive The noodles were freshly made, soba that was originally sold in shanty record which clearly indicates the cooked and served to patrons shops and by peddlers. Sarashina soba, 2 From left: Tempura soba; kamo-namban soba; sarashina soba; cha soba the highest quality soba, is served at involved mixing miso with water, most popular soba with toppings is soba shops where the fl our is made by boiling it down and straining tempura soba, featuring two refi ning the bran layer from the groats it. During the seventeenth and tempura shrimp. and grinding only the very center of eighteenth centuries, it came to The trendsetters of old Edo the white inner part of the kernel. be replaced by dashi made from showed their true spirit in Nami soba (regular soba), the type katsuobushi seasoned with tamari transforming a food once used to most generally served in soba shops, soy sauce and sake. From the late stave off starvation into something is made from fl our mixed with the eighteenth century, basic soba sauce urbane and chic. Today, itinerant remaining white inner part (not used began to be made using katsuobushi soba peddlers have disappeared, in sarashina soba) and pellicle parts. dashi as a base with soy sauce and yet countless soba shops remain, Typically, 20 percent wheat fl our is mirin, which produces the sweet and stand-up soba counters can be mixed with 80 percent soba fl our savory fl avor that is familiar today. found in train stations and on street to prevent the noodles from being Then as now, ways of eating corners. All over Japan, one can hear crumbly in nature, as soba fl our does soba vary. Zaru soba is cooked and the sound of people enjoying soba: to not contain gluten. In some instances, chilled, served on a bamboo mat better savor the fragrance and fl avor however, the percentage of wheat called a zaru or a wooden steamer of the soba, it is essential to slurp fl our is increased up to 40 percent, called a seiro. Each mouthful of one’s noodles. and occasionally grated yamato-imo noodles is dipped into a cool savory (mountain yam) is mixed with the sauce. Contemporary variants of soba fl our. Soba made of either 100 zaru soba include kamo-seiro soba percent sarashina fl our or nami fl our accompanied by a warm dipping is referred to as ki soba or jyu-wari sauce containing morsels of kamo soba—which literally means that duck meat. Another is chilled the noodles consist of 100 percent hiyagake soba, served in a large cover soba fl our; such noodles are served bowl to which cool broth is added, Dainihon Bussan-zue (ca. 19th C.) by Utagawa Hiroshige III. This print depicts the process of making freshly made and freshly cooked, and accompanied by tempura or chopped soba in the Shinshu region. Courtesy Waseda are considered “gourmet” soba by long onion and other toppings. Kake University Library connoisseurs. Another variation is soba or atsukake noodles are served Author’s profile cha soba, where ground green tea is in a hot broth, and tamago-toji soba Ayao Okumura, Ph.D. was born in 1937 in Wakayama Prefecture. A former professor at Kobe added to the fl our for fragrance and is made by cooking a beaten egg Yamate University, Dr. Okumura is a specialist in which imparts a light green color. into the broth. Kamo-namban soba traditional Japanese cuisine. He is currently is served in a broth cooked with part-time professor at Osaka City University Graduate School, lecturing on the establishment Varieties of Soba duck meat and long onion. Arare and structure of Japanese food culture; as owner Until the sixteenth century, basic soba is topped with small scallops, of cooking studio Douraku-tei, he is known for his soba sauce was a liquid made by and hanamaki soba is topped with authentic reproductions of historic Japanese dishes and menus. His various publications include Nippon adding dried bonito a generous helping of toasted and katsuobushi men shokubunka no 1300 nen (“1,300 years of fl akes to taremiso. Taremiso shredded nori seaweed—but the Japanese noodle food culture,” 2009; revised 2014). FOOD FORUM October 2018 3 CLOSE-UP JAPAN Traditions and trends in Japanese food culture Selecting a favorite dish as it passes by on the belt Empty plates pile up in front of diners to be tallied for the bill. Kaitenzushi There are two types of sushi The fi nal bill is determined by the restaurants in Japan: the typical color or pattern of individual dishes, sushiya, where customers sit at a Kaitenzushi are each of which denotes a different counter or tables and order sushi price. The values of the empty plates directly from sushi chefs; and economical and are added up, and payment is made kaitenzushi, where sushi dishes family-friendly at a cashier. travel on slow-moving conveyor Because kaitenzushi are belts directly in front of diners economical and family-friendly, seated at a counter or tables—and menus include alternative dishes when they see a dish they like, they rapidly multiplied beyond Osaka and for children and those preferring simply pluck it off the belt. now can be found throughout Japan something besides sushi, such as The kaitenzushi concept and around the world. ramen, udon, french fries, fried originated in the 1950s and is said In some kaitenzushi, customers chicken and ice cream.

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