Soba

Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour, often blended with a smaller proportion of wheat flour to help bind the dough, giving the noodles their characteristic brownish gray color. Soba is served hot in broth in colder months or chilled and dipped into a soy-based sauce called tsuyu as zaru soba in warmer months, often garnished with scallions and wasabi. The mountainous Shinshu region, corresponding to modern Nagano Prefecture, is particularly associated with soba, since buckwheat grows well there in conditions too harsh for rice.