I have recently discovered Japanese Soba noodles in the health food store and really love them. But they are quite pricey and I wanted to learn how to make them myself. They are made with buckwheat flour and so far I have tried two times and failed and now I'm trying for the third time. I know that Soba noodles are very common in the Japanese diet so I am sure they don't pay a lot for them. I looked for them in Chinatown but since the stores were Chinese they didn't have Soba noodles. They had something similar but it was made with wheat rather than buckwheat and I want to eat the buckwheat. If anyone knows how to make them I would really like some help. Thanks.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), March 03, 2002

Answers

http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org/vc98/vc_07/makesj.htm

I found this web site that tells how to make soba noodles - hope this helps!

-- heather (h.m.metheny@att.net), March 03, 2002.

if making them doesn't work out try maruwa.com. Around here we have Mitsuwa stores, a large japanese grocery. You might check to see if there's any in your area.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 03, 2002.

They are wonderful, aren't they? Don't buy them at the health food store, though - insanely overpriced. We get them at asian groceries Japanese and Korean are the most likely to have them, but others might also. We get 3lb packages for $2.59 at a Korean grocery near Boston when we go up to visit my parents.

-- Sharon in NY (astyk@brandeis.edu), March 04, 2002.

Colleen, here is another source for soba noodle recipes. This is one of my favorite recipe sites. chinese recipes Best wishes!

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.

I love soba noodles! I just came back from a vacation to Japan! I bought some soba noodles there, but I need to know how to make the good dipping sauce. DOES ANYBODY KNOW? PLEASE HELP!!!!

-- Rubert (rotund@aol.com), April 14, 2002.

I love soba noodles! I just came back from a vacation to Japan! I bought some soba noodles there, but I need to know how to make the good dipping sauce. (for cold soba) DOES ANYBODY KNOW? PLEASE HELP!!!!

-- Rubert (rotund@aol.com), April 14, 2002.

here's one recipe for it;

ht tp://japanesefood.about.com/library/recipe/blsobatsuyu.htm

You can also buy bottles of it from the internet store mentioned above.

I noticed recently that the local Vons here carries soba noodles(in the produce section), though a bit more expensive than other places. Vons is part of Safeway so you might look there for a source.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

hey colleen-you are totally right, soba is amazing. the link on how to make them is great and pretty right on. just to help out a bit, i (live in japan and) just went to my principals house last week to make soba. it was my first time, so i can only offer a little help, but he used about 3 cups of soba flour, 2 cups of regular flour, 2 beaten eggs, and a little bit of water. the soba was a bit too rubbery for my taste, and next time will try without the eggs, or with just the whites. and maybe without the regular flour. but there is a guideline and pretty cheap really! also the important part is the kneading. at first it should be annoyingly sticky. sticking to your hands and fingernails etc. but keep going and knead it like you are kneading clay or bread about 150 times. that was the most important part to my principal. lots of kneading it together and it should eventually become a pretty maneagable ball of dough. split the dough in half (for two balls, otherwise you will be rolling it out to your neighbor's house :) ) get a pretty big space, and i would even recommend just a 1 in dowel rod as a rolling pin becasue it will roll out pretty big and a regular rolling pin will be a pain. then, just as with pie crust, lots of flour on the board and on the dough to keep it from sticking. when you have rolled it out thin enough for your liking, make sure there is enough flour on top and on bottom, then fold it over itself 3 or 4 or 5 times to make it easier to cut. if there in enough flour on each side, it won't stick together. just pull away every few inches and "fluff" them up to shake off extra flour and . boil to desired hardness and you ar good to go. and if you really want to enjoy all the goodness of the cold soba experience, it is common to pour some of the water used to boil the soba into the leftover tsuyu (soba sauce) and drink it like tea i guess. it seems kind of wierd that tsuyu, green onoins, dried seaweed, wasabi, and floury water make a delicious after dinner drink, but it really kind of does! this turned out to be much longer that i thought. hope it helps a little bit!

luke

-- luke (jelly721@yahoo.com), April 22, 2002.

Hey Luke, Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.