Soba (pasta)
Soba ( Japanese 蕎麦 , kana そ ば ) are thin, brown-gray noodles made from buckwheat and are part of Japanese cuisine .
preparation
The soba noodles themselves are served hot or cold as desired and separately from the broth on a bowl, an o-wan. Depending on the season, the broth is served cold or warm in a mug with various side dishes and spices. Kake Soba ( 掛 け 蕎麦 , 掛 け そ ば or か け そ ば ) is one of the most common variants and consists of a broth ( Dashi ), rice wine ( Mirin ), Japanese soy sauce ( Shoyu ) garnished with finely chopped green onions. Often this is refined with wasabi and / or freshly grated ginger , depending on your taste . Various side dishes are often available, such as fried tofu ( kitsune tofu), shrimp wrapped in batter ( tempura ), raw egg ( tsukimi ) and other different preparations. Traditionally, pasta water, which is considered very healthy in Japan, is not disposed of after the noodles have been drained, but kept and mixed with the rest of the broth in the cup after the meal and drunk.
Soba are offered in a multitude of variants and qualities (inexpensive variants also contain wheat flour) and in many shops, from the normal little evening bars to special soba restaurants that hardly offer anything else. At train stations in particular, they are available for little money in fast-food restaurants . Soba is also prepared at home. At the turn of the year in particular , Toshikoshi Soba ( 年 越 し 蕎麦 or 年 越 し そ ば ) is traditionally the last dish to be served in the old year and should be eaten before the beginning of the new so that you are financially lucky in the next year. Soba is also viewed as a symbolic food at other times of change in life. The long shape of the pasta, which should indicate a long life, is considered symbolic. Apart from this meaning of the soba, the noodles are very popular because they are both easy on the stomach and easy to prepare. Shops even sell condensed instant broth and pre-cooked and re-dried noodles, which makes preparation even easier and faster. The most famous soba come from Nagano and are called Shinano Soba after the old name of the region . Other well-known Japanese noodles are udon , ramen, and somen .
Soba are also known in the United States, with kake soba and zaru soba ( ざ る そ ば , cooled noodles with nori ) being sold in most Japanese restaurants and sushi shops.
Other meanings
Soba actually means "buckwheat". The term is also used metonymically to denote some noodle dishes of Chinese and Japanese origin that do not contain buckwheat but wheat flour, such as Chūka soba ("Chinese soba", 中華 蕎麦 ; another name for ramen ), yakisoba (fried noodles) and Okinawa Soba (a noodle soup made with udon- like noodles).
See also
- Soba kiri (pasta knife)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Helen Chen: Helen's Asian Kitchen: Easy Asian Noodles . 1st edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Hoboken , NJ , USA 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-38755-9 , pp. 33 (hardcover) (English).