Udon and Soba

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Udon

On the Road to Bin, China” mentions that one of the Chinese characters imported from China along with Zen was udon.

Udon, according to wiki, is “one of the Japanese noodles. It is made by kneading wheat flour and cutting it into long strips of a certain width and thickness. Or is a dish of it. It is also written as udon. There are no strict rules for dried noodles, except that there is a rule for noodles according to their thickness (see below). There are examples of thin noodles such as ‘Inaniwa udon’, and ‘kishimen and string noodles’ are also included with regard to dried noodles, provided that thin noodles meet the criteria. The term ‘kishimen’ is also used to describe a familiar dish in Japan, where it is described as ‘kishimen’. The same is true of the “kishimen” and “hitokawa”.

There are various theories as to the origin of udon, but it is generally believed to have been influenced by the flour-based food culture of northern China, where wheat was the staple food, such as udon, soba and steamed buns, which were unsuitable for rice cultivation. It is said to have been eaten in its present form from the early Edo period (1603-1868).

Udon culture in Japan is historically older than that of soba (buckwheat noodles), which will be discussed later, and there are cultural udon associated with shrines and temples with a long history as ‘Monzen Udon’ for worshippers and others in many places (Kazo Udon, Yoshida Udon, Ise Udon, etc.).

Also. Specialty udon is produced in various regions.

  • Sanuki udon (Kagawa Prefecture)
  • Inaniwa udon (Akita Prefecture)
  • Goto udon (Nagasaki Prefecture)
  • Mizusawa udon (Gunma Prefecture)
  • Himi udon (Toyama Prefecture)
  • Kishimen (Aichi Prefecture)

Although there is a strong perception that udon is the food of the Edo people, it is said that udon was actually more popular than soba in the early Edo period. The combination of udon and light soy sauce, which was introduced from the upper regions, quickly spread through the streets of Edo and created a boom. In contrast, there were many calls for the original food of Edo, and the dashi was changed to dark soy sauce to compete with the Kamigata style.

Soba

Soba (buckwheat noodles), according to wiki, are “Japanese noodles processed using buckwheat flour from the grain buckwheat seeds, and dishes made from them. It is sometimes referred to as ‘Japanese buckwheat noodles’ or ‘Japanese buckwheat noodles’ in contrast to Chinese buckwheat noodles, or as ‘Yamato soba’ in contrast to Okinawa soba. Originally, buckwheat seeds/ buckwheat flour were eaten in a variety of ways, but since the spread of buckwheat noodles, or soba-kiri, the word ‘soba’ simply means buckwheat noodles.” The same is true of buckwheat noodles.

Soba is a typical Japanese dish along with sushi and tempura, and has a long history. Soba soup, which is used as a seasoning for soba, has distinct differences in colour, thickness and taste depending on the region, and its ingredients also vary according to taste in each region. When soba is served, a plate (such as a special soba plate lined with a bamboo screen), colander (for colander soba) or soba steamer is used. When soba sauce is served, a tokuri (soba tokuri) and an inokuchi (soba inokuchi) are often used. Soba is also served in a bowl of rice topped with soup. Soba noodles are not only served at speciality restaurants, but also on the menus of restaurant chains, and are sold at retail outlets as dried, fresh or boiled noodles, or even as cup noodles.

Soba is eaten all year round, but in Japan it is customary to eat New Year’s Eve soba on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck.

The introduction of buckwheat to Japan is said to date back to the Jomon period. Buckwheat pollen from 10,000 years ago has been found in Tonbara-cho, Iishi District, Shimane Prefecture, pollen from 9,300 years ago in Sakawa-cho, Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture, and pollen from 5,000 years ago in Hokkaido.

In the Nara period (722), the Shoku Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan) states in an imperial edict issued in July of the 6th year of the Nara period (722) that ‘this summer there will be no rain and seedlings will not be harvested, and the government will order the planting of buckwheat, barley, wheat and late rice to prepare for drought damage. This is the reason why buckwheat is now cultivated in Japan. This is the first written record of the cultivation of soba in Japan.

The Kokin Shokumonshu, written in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), records an anecdote in which Michimei (nephew of Fujiwara no Michinaga), a monk and poet from the mid-Heian period, was served soba cuisine by mountain dwellers and composed a poem expressing his honest surprise that such a dish could not even be served at a meal. This can be said to reflect the fact that soba was not even recognised as a food by the nobility and monks, the upper classes of the capital. Soba in this period is thought to have been a minor cereal that farmers cultivated only in small quantities to provide relief in times of famine or other emergency.

In the old days, buckwheat was eaten as such a relief food, made into porridge with the grains still in the grain,

Alternatively, buckwheat flour was eaten as soba-kaki (buckwheat dumplings, also called soba-kneading) or soba-yaki (buckwheat flour dissolved in water and baked, replacing the wheat flour in fu-yaki). The flour of baked fu was replaced by buckwheat).

The cooking method of processing buckwheat flour into the form of noodles is called soba-kiri (buckwheat noodles), and is now often referred to simply as soba in abbreviated form, although there are regions where the name ‘soba-kiri’ remains. Some believe that this form of cooking was brought to Japan in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) by Seiichi Kokushi, a monk of Jotenji Temple, who travelled from Hakata to the Song dynasty and brought back a blueprint, Suima no Zu, describing a milling technique using a water mill, and that this mill technique was used to produce foods based on flour, such as kan (the precursor of yokan), manju (buns) and noodles (udon and soba), which were then spread among the Japanese. Some believe that they spread this technique to the Japanese people.

The earliest document that confirms the existence of buckwheat noodles is dated 1574 (Tensho 2), and it is estimated that the spread of buckwheat noodles to the general population occurred in the 18th century (Genroku era).

In the early Edo period (1603-1868), soba (buckwheat noodles) was not widespread in the city of Edo, and was eaten in the form of soba gaki (buckwheat noodles). The original form of buckwheat noodles was Shinshu buckwheat noodles, and the earliest record of buckwheat noodles is that in 1574, buckwheat noodles were served at Jōshō-ji Temple in Kiso to celebrate the completion of the temple. This is believed to have been introduced from Shinshu to Edo via the Koshu-kaido and Nakasendo roads. It is believed that buckwheat noodles became popular because buckwheat noodles and buckwheat noodle shops became the mother of a unique culture, and buckwheat noodles, which are resistant to cold damage, were favoured to prevent beriberi.

Soba in the Edo period was made from buckwheat noodles without using any glue, but as they were easy to break, cut buckwheat noodles were steamed in a steamer basket and served to customers as they were. This is the reason why “heri-soba” is still called “seiro-soba”.

Soba-tsuyu was also made using miso as a base, rather than the dried bonito flakes soup stock to which soy sauce and mirin (mirin) were added as is the case today. This was simply called ‘miso-dare’, which was made by adding water to miso, boiling it down, hanging it in a cloth bag and using the liquid that dripped out. Also known as ‘tare-miso’, an Edo period cookbook states that it could be made with daikon radish juice, shavings, grated daikon, grated radish and asari, with mustard or wasabi added.

The ‘three major buckwheat noodle shops of Edo’ are ‘Yabu’, ‘Sarashina’ and ‘Sunaba’. These shop names are still used by many soba shops today.

In the Edo period, the shops also made various efforts to increase the popularity of soba. The reason why drinking sake at soba shops is still considered chic today is because sake was served in order to make the time until the soba noodles were ready to be boiled enjoyable for the quick-tempered Edo people.

Soba and sake, however, were not always considered to be a good combination, which led to the creation of a variety of dishes for those who enjoyed sake, including ‘nuki’, which is soba without the buckwheat noodles, ‘ita wasa’, thinly sliced kamaboko with wasabi and soy sauce, and ‘ten-tane’, which is tempura. These are so-called snacks, but the point is that they are all ingredients that are always available at soba restaurants and are not prepared as snacks.

In this way, even during the daytime, one could go to a soba shop when one wanted a light drink and enjoy it without any particular complaints, and in this sense, the popularity of soba exploded.

Various variations of soba have been invented. Local buckwheat noodles include ‘Nishin-soba’, ‘Harako-zoba’, ‘Shiko-zoba’ and ‘Curry Nanban’.

Nishin-soba is a Hokkaido speciality, described in “Kaido yuku – Hokkaido’s roads“, and consists of kakesoba (buckwheat noodles) topped with a sweetened herring meat.

Harakosoba is a type of soba from Iwate Prefecture, where the roe of the southern nose-curved salmon is broken off and placed on top of the soba and warmed until semi-cooked, or raw harako is lightly salted and placed on top of the soba.

Shikabusoba is a traditional Kyoto favourite, and is made of. It is made by hand, one by one, and is topped with Kyoto-style ingredients such as yuba wrapped in kombu (kelp), boiled shiitake mushrooms made from fragrant dried shiitake mushrooms grown on logs and slowly cooked overnight, fu and mitsuba leaves, and other ‘gomoku’ or ‘kayaku’ ingredients.

Finally, curry nanban is said to have originated at a Japanese soba restaurant in Yotsuya, Tokyo, where it was marketed as a combination of Western-flavoured curry and the Japanese preference for duck nanban soba.

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