Talk:Soba

Discussion of gluten
I've worked with buckwheat flour once and found it couldn't make a dough - water just turned it into a paste. I was looking this up and somehow it is possible to make a dough out of the buckwheat flour and make 100% buckwheat noodles. Do we have any explanation for how this works? Maybe it has to be hulled buckwheat flour, not the dark Western style with the hulls? How can something with no internal stickiness form a dough?

Soba from Nagano
"The most famous Japanese soba noodles come from Nagano. Soba from Nagano is called Shinano Soba or Shinshu soba."

"One of the unusual side of soba is that unlike udon or ramen where varieties of noodles are named with a famed location of them, soba is named according to ingredients used to make soba."

These parts appear to contradict each other. Shinano is a town in Nagano. Can anyone verify the latter part? I am thinking it should be removed. Dforest 01:13, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

I think they mean that the noodles are named after the place the ingredients come from not where they are made.

There is definitely a town named Shinano, but it is rather the name of the former province that is practically equivalent to present Nagano Prefecture. Shinshu stands for the Province of Shinano. --B. T. Si 01:22, 21 December 2005 (UTC)I think "Buckake soba" is vandalism. Plus, the romanji spelling isn't correct.

Sorry, apparently there is a kind of soba that does use "bukkake." That's really funny.

[in Japan, it is traditionally considered polite to slurp the noodles noisily.] I have heard this kind of theory at many places but I do not think so. Japanese just do not care making noise when they eat noodle soup. Actually it is difficult, if not impossible, to eat noodle soup without making noise unless you eat very slowly. -- 03:04, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

You're quite right there: "You may get surprised to see everybody slurping ramen without hint of hesitation in ramen shops in Japan. Yes, Japanese do not mind making noise eating not only but also other kinds of noodles like soba and udon. I knew some explained slurping noodles is to express appreciation. This is funny but it's not true. Japanese love noodles so much that they just devote themselves in eating it and do not care making noise. " -From WorldRamen -- 03:22, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

I think "Buckake soba" is vandalism. Plus, the romanji spelling isn't correct.

Sorry, apparently there is a kind of soba that does use "bukkake." That's really funny.

Tsuyu / method of eating
I added the terminology "tsuyu" instead of the generic "broth" and slightly changed the zarusoba section.

Yam
Most of the soba I buy has "yam" as one of the ingredients (after wheat flour and buckwheat flour, and before salt). This should be addressed in the article, and the exact species/variety of yam that is used should be given. Badagnani 10:03, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Dipping sauce
Does the dipping sauce ever include ponzu (i.e. citrus such as yuzu or sudachi juice, etc.)? Badagnani 22:53, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Unlike Korean noodles, Japanese soba is rarely served with any sour-tasted sauce or soup (in Japan). It's udon, another kind of Japanese noodle, that is sometimes served with cut sudachi especially in Japanese island of Shikoku. Rija 23:55, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. One more question: why are the noodles dipped in the sauce rather than simply pouring the sauce on top of the noodles? It seems that pouring the sauce on the noodles is so much easier. Badagnani 01:52, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, it's really easy and some people do so, but I believe the majority in Japan consider it's somewhat a rude way to serve soba. The noodle easily loses its flavor when wet with sauce, so they like to keep the cooked noodle dry until it's eaten. It's said that true gourmets do not even dip the entire body of noodle in the sauce; to avoid ruining its flavor they should dip only the bottom of the noodle (and keep the upper half dry)! It's not rare for soba to be served in soup, usually hot and sometimes chilled, but such soup is much thinner than dipping sauce. Rija (talk) 05:17, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Slurping
I've never met a Japanese person who considers it polite to slurp, merely odd that one would try not to. Besides, it stops the sauce from going everywhere. Does someone actually have a citation for this or is it an urban myth creeping in?
 * I, a Japanese person living in Japan, personally believe it's a stylish way to eat soba.... Of cource, true soba gourmets will never sprinkle sauce on the table when they slurp soba, and what they make during slurping soba is not just unpolite noise but some pleasant sound (for some people), I also believe.
 * Anyway, These may be citations: a student's essay reviewed by education board staff, a Tokyo restaurant guide. --Rija (talk) 14:28, 14 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I would say that it is not polite to slurp in Japan. The Japanese intake of breath while eating soba is not the American-style sound and action that the word connotes.  I don't know of an English word for the Japanese inhalation while eating.  Perhaps it would be best to describe it as it is instead of using an inaccurate word. 128.151.98.46 (talk) 16:23, 7 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I get what the user above is saying. I believe they quietly slurp. The word slurp just makes it sound rowdy. EmGaGa (talk) 10:50, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Katakana vs Hiragana
Why is "soba" written using katakana on the Japanese-language wikipedia entry for buckwheat, but here it is written using hiragana? Any subtletly in the rules governing the usage of these two systems that I don't know? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.106.62.115 (talk) 00:15, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Questions about Types
The article states:

"The most famous Japanese soba noodles come from Nagano. Soba from Nagano is called Shinano Soba or Shinshu soba. Ni-hachi (二八, two-eight) soba, consists of two parts of wheat and eight of buckwheat; Juwari (十割, 100%) soba, the finest (and usually most expensive) variety, consists entirely of buckwheat."

It then goes on to list various types of soba by region and by ingredients. Some of the types are also mentioned in the quote and others are not. My question: are the types mentioned above (Ni-hachi and Juwari) both Shinano Sobas? If so I would like to clarify that. If not we need to clarify as well and perhaps rearrange the text for the benefit of persons such as myself who get confused easily.

Thank you, Dave (djkernen)|Talk to me|Please help! 13:28, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Nutritional Value of Soba Yu
The article currently says:

"Soba-yu 蕎麦湯: This is warm water that boiled soba, much like broth. People drink dipping sauce mixed with soba-yu to enjoy the flavor of soba; however, there is little or no nutritional value.""

But it doesn't give a source for this statement. I'm not sure that conclusion is accurate. The following quote seems to be more recent. I found the following in a 2004 paper titled "Buckwheat Minerals and Their Nutritional Role" by Ikeda et al.:

""In Japan, there is a traditional dietary custom of drinking the hot cooking water,“soba-yu”, left after cooking buckwheat noodles. It has been believed that the cooking water (soba-yu) may contain some essential nutrients (NAGATOMO 1984), although the scientific basis for such a dietary custom had not been fully elucidated (IKEDA AND SHIMIZU 1993). Our findings suggest that the hot cooking water (soba-yu) after cooking of the noodles contain nutrients such as protein and some essential minerals. Our studies may provide a nutritionally-scientific basis for such a dietary custom (IKEDA et al. 2003).

We have analyzed changes in seven essential mineral, i.e., zinc, copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus, released as a soluble form after α-amylase, pepsin plus pancreatin digestion of buckwheat noodles and of their hot cooking water (soba-yu) (IKEDA et al. 2003). Our findings showed that the enzymatic digestion of cooked noodles enables over 70% of three of the minerals, i.e., zinc, copper and potassium to be released as a soluble form. In addition, high proportions of the minerals, released on the enzymatic digestion of the hot cooking water (soba-yu) were found for the six essential minerals but with the exception for calcium.

...Our studies on cooked buckwheat noodles and their hot cooking water (soba-yu) has shown that the enzymatic digestion of cooked noodles enables large proportions of zinc, copper and potassium, to be released as a soluble form and that high proportions of the six essential minerals, released on the enzymatic digestion of hot cooking water (soba-yu) were found (IKEDA et al. 2003).""

So, there may be nutritional value to Soba Yu after all. Drichman39 (talk) 20:31, 28 October 2015 (UTC)


 * Further, the US Department of Agriculture has one page for the nutritional value of cooked soba noodles at https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6569?fgcd=Cereal+Grains+and+Pasta&manu=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=35&offset=70&sort=&qlookup= and another page for dry soba noodles at https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6568?fgcd=Cereal+Grains+and+Pasta&manu=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=35&offset=70&sort=&qlookup= Something is going into the cooking water, the values change from dry to cooked. The article cites the value of kcal for cooked noodles. --Prairieplant (talk) 06:20, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

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Clarification: there are 9 essential amino acids, article notes Soba contains 'all 8'
In the introduction, near the end is a line saying 'Soba contains all eight essential amino acids, including lysine, which is lacking in wheat flour.', and this is referenced again in the nutrition section. This is a little misleading as there are 9 generally accepted essential amino acids, so I wasn't sure if it meant Soba contained eight of nine essential amino acids (rather than all) or if the article was just dated. Alternative sources indicate Soba DOES contain all 9 essential AA's, with the most recent addition being Histidine.

I've read there is some debate between Histidine's status of essential, but Wikipedia's page on it and most other info i've gathered supports 9. From wikipedia's page on histidine: 'The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the U.S. Institute of Medicine set Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for essential amino acids in 2002. For histidine, for adults 19 years and older, 14 mg/kg body weight/day'. The citation for the nutrition section is the following piece: Homma, Gaku (1990). The Folk Art of Japanese Country Cooking: A Traditional Diet for Today's World.

I'm not versed well enough in using the history tool, but it seems the source for the info was prior to addition of Histidine as an essential amino acid. Even so, that was 16 years ago. Unless I'm missing something, shouldn't this be clarified to contain all 9 essential amino acids? It might sound pedantic, but as someone who was reading specific for amino acid content the notion of 8 is what sent me on the research binge above. I didn't want to edit myself, being having no experience as an editor and not yet familiar enough with citation standards, etc. . --47.55.176.99 (talk) 03:54, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

To say “soba noodles” is redundant
To say “soba noodles” is redundant. The word for “buckwheat noodles“ in Japanese is “soba“. To say “soba noodles“ is effectively to say “buckwheat noodles noodles“. Starlists (talk) 16:51, 29 January 2022 (UTC)

Containing all nine essential amino acids means nothing for common foods (wheat also contains lysine)
The only food that this could correctly, and most likely be applied against, is gelatin. That would contain eight, excluding tryptophan. The fact that a food does not contain the nine, is far more useful. Such as if one is using it as their main source of protein; then it may be detrimental to use it like that. Alone, it is not useful information for anyone concerned about nutrition. Protein completeness is different, and useful. A complete protein is a theoretically perfect protein for health. For humans, it is made of nine EAAs (essential amino acids) in specific quantities. In best practice, a protein is qualified as wholly complete, or the amino acids in lesser quantity are highlighted as limiting amino acids. The amount of each limiting amino acid can be weighed against those of a complete protein to show the overall relative protein completeness. The diet across one's day might amount to an adequate intake of complete protein, even if one eats much of a food with low relative protein completeness. Wheat absolutely contains lysine. Lysine is a limiting amino acid in wheat. I hope this topic might inspire someone to more effectively write about nutrition and understand the concepts more deeply. Consonol (talk) 03:15, 8 March 2023 (UTC)