the Japanese word for buckwheat, and for noodles made from buckwheat, which are traditionally preferred in the eastern half of Japan, especially in Tokyo.
Buckwheat has been eaten in Japan from early antiquity, but it was in the 17th century that soba became common, though it must have been known earlier. The increased popularity of soba at this time was encouraged by a rise in the production of buckwheat, in the wake of the period of peace and prosperity that followed the setting up of centralized government in Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1603 after decades of civil strife.
Soba has always had a dual identity. In rural areas, where buckwheat was an important element in the daily diet, it tends to be made specially for festive occasions. On the other hand, it has always been readily available to city dwellers as a street food.
Soba is made by mixing buckwheat flour with water, kneading it vigorously (often treading it), rolling it out, folding it, and cutting it into thin strips. As buckwheat dough is inclined to be dry and crumbly, 20 to 30 per cent of wheat flour is usually added.
In the Edo period (1603–1868), when buckwheat noodles first became popular, coloured noodles were often made by incorporating various ingredients (e.g. mugwort, Artemisia indica; green tea (to make cha soba, green, subtly flavoured, a rarity); shrimps; eggs; chrysanthemum petals; sesame seeds; seaweeds) into the basic dough—in the same way that spinach is sometimes added to pasta dough. But these coloured varieties have almost completely disappeared.
There are numerous ways of serving soba, but the most basic are mori, with a dipping sauce, or kake, as a soup. (These words come from moru, to pile up, and kakeru, to pour.) There are a number of variations on these two themes. One of the most popular is tempura soba, which is a kake soba with prawn tempura placed on top.
Yamaimo soba, lighter in colour and chewier in texture than the plain kind, are made by adding Japanese mountain yam (Dioscorea japonica) flour to the basic dough.
Most soba is commercially manufactured and sold dried, although soba restaurants in the cities make their own on the premises. The traditional techniques survive in rural areas.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
