[1] Cold soba noodles typically are served on a flat plate like pasta; but here, they’re swirled into a stylish dome (photo © Lulu Durand | iStock Photo).

[2] Hot soba ingredients with fried tofu cubes and edamame are American-inspired (photo © Sun Basket).

[3] A classic preparation: cold soba noodles topped with shredded daikon (suzushiro) (photo © Soba Yamagata).

[4] Hot soba noodles topped with salmon, sweet potatoes, baby bok choy, scallions, black and white sesame seeds (photo © Vital Choice | Facebook).

[5] Serve soba noodles as a side, instead of rice or pasta. Here, it’s served with slices of panko-coated fried chicken roll, stuffed with asparagus and carrots (photo © Between The Bread).

Uncooked soba (buckwheat) noodles (photo © Maria Lapsha | Fotolia).

Unless you live in an area with good Japanese restaurants, it may be difficult to find a dish of soba noodles. But if you check in a natural foods market or online, you should be able to pick some up and cook your own. Soba noodles can be enjoyed so many ways, hot or cold. You can even set them out as a buffet, with pick-your-own toppings (see hiyashi soba, below.)

Soba dishes are appealing party fare, from bowls of noodle soup meant to be slurped with gusto, to a mix-your-own cold soba noodle salad with four, six or more optional ingredients with which to customize one’s dish.

Soba is the Japanese word for buckwheat; the thin noodles are made from buckwheat flour. As with all pasta, soba noodles can be served warm or chilled (think cold sesame noodles and pasta salad). Here are some popular recipes ideas

> A full recipe for soba noodle salad with tofu is below.

> Also below is the history of soba noodles.
 
 
HOT SOBA NOODLE DISHES

 
 
COLD SOBA NOODLE DISHES

 
You can create fusion food with western ingredients: hard-cooked egg, julienned ham, and cheese, strips of roast pork or poultry, leeks or red onions instead of scallions, sliced red radishes…anything goes.

In fact, one conceit for a soba noodles party is to have each guest bring a creative ingredient to mix in.
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*Mori soba, seiro soba, and zaru soba are similar but for the serving plate or basket.
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The tradition of eating soba originates from the Tokugawa Period of Japan, also called the Edo Period, from 1603 to 1868 C.E. Every neighborhood had one or two soba establishments, many also serving saké, where locals would stop for a casual meal.

At that time, the well-to-do population of Edo (ancient Tokyo) was more susceptible to beriberi than the rural poor, due to their high consumption of white rice, from which the nutrients are removed with the bran. Low thiamine (vitamin B) consumption leads to beriberi, and it was discovered that the disease could be prevented by regularly eating thiamine-rich buckwheat [source].

Previously, people ate buckwheat in the form of dumplings or mixed with glutinous rice to make rice cakes.

Innovations made it easier to eat soba transformed into long, thin soba noodles. Using a blend of 80% buckwheat with a filler of 20% wheat made the noodles resilient and easy to slurp down. This became Edo’s famous 2:8 soba.

Soba restaurants proliferated, and the noodles became so popular that merchants and samurai families would pay to have soba restaurants delivered to their homes.


Soba noodles became a daily part of life. It was Edo-era fast food for the busy people of Edo. Convenient, inexpensive, light on the stomach, filling, versatile with a choice of toppings, and importantly, nutritous, a bowl of soba was an is a well-rounded meal. 


That Tokyo was close to key buckwheat producing areas like Nagano and Niigata helped the dish flourish.

The Japanese word soba means buckwheat, in particular, buckwheat noodles. It is an abbreviation of the full name of buckwheat, soba-mugi, which means “edgy wheat.”

Soba is traditionally eaten on New Year’s Eve in most areas of Japan [source]. Soba noodles have long symbolized longevity: “the thinner; the longer” in shape, the better.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Low in calories, delicious, and as inexpensive as they’re going to get: This is the season to have as much asparagus as you desire. Incorporate them into everyday dishes such as eggs and pasta, or make something more special-occasion like risotto. Steam them for a snack. Whatever you do, cook them al dente rather than soft.

Adding asparagus to a recipe is easy: Just grill, sauté, steam or stir-fry the spears.

For pasta and risotto: For a seasonally exciting change, cut asparagus into bite-size pieces, sauté or steam and mix into cooked pasta, risotto or plain rice. You can use the pasta sauce of your choice, or simply toss with good olive oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. For more complexity, combine asparagus with mushrooms and/or other green vegetables, including broad beans, broccoli, green beans, spinach and spring peas.

For eggs: Mix al dente cooked and cut spears into omelets or scrambled eggs, or add whole spears to Eggs Benedict, between the Canadian bacon and the eggs.

For salad: Add asparagus to your favorite salad recipe, or create a composed salad of asparagus, beets, hard-cooked eggs, mozzarella and any other appealing ingredients.

 
ASPARAGUS TIP

The thickness and size of the spear has nothing to do with the tenderness of the asparagus. Tenderness is a function of how the plant was grown and how fresh it is—the longer the time since harvest, the less tender.

However, the bottom of the stalk, where it is cut from the ground, is tough. It should be removed before cooking.
  

What happens when you find yourself with a dozen stale donuts? We received two large boxes and forgot to freeze the leftovers. When we returned to them two days later, they were stale.

Smart money might say: through them out or feed them to the birds. We thought: How many ways can we repurpose these donuts?

First: If the donuts are not rock-hard, there are ways to revive them. The first is 20 seconds in the microwave; the second is to place two slices of white bread in a plastic bag with the donuts for several hours or overnight. The moisture from the bread will transfer to the donuts. The dried bread that results can be turned into bread crumbs, croutons or toast.

Or, turn your stale donuts into a different recipe entirely. Here are some suggestions for starters:

 
There are other options we passed by, such as deep-frying the donuts and grinding them into flour for brownie batter. But don’t let that stop you.
  

The chip choices in America are vast. We’ve got bagel chips, beet chips, cassava chips, chickpea chips (hummus chips and falafel chips), corn chips/tortilla chips, lentil chips ([apadums), lotus root chips, pita chips, plantain chips, potato chips, rice chips, salba (chia) chips, taro chips and other grain and veggie chips.

Not to mention bean chips, a relative newcomer that’s packed full of bean fiber and protein.

We’ve tried different brands, but our favorite by far is Beanitos. The newest flavor, and our Top Pick Of The Week, is Restaurant Style Beanitos.

Unlike the rest of the line, which has rich bean flavor, Restaurant Style Beanitos look and taste like restaurant-style tortilla chips.

Why make bean chips that taste like tortilla chips?

It’s a super-popular flavor, and bean chips pack more fiber and protein. If you want deep bean flavor, check out the other flavors at Beanitos.com.

Read the full Beanitos review.

The next time you’re near a cheese store or the cheese department of your market, pick up a crottin, a small goat cheese (often two inches in diameter) shaped like a drum (it’s the signature goat cheese shape of France’s Loire Valley).

Crottins are typically served with a mesclun salad (mixed baby greens), lightly dressed in vinaigrette, as a way to end the meal. It can be divided between two people or eaten as a single portion.

Use whatever greens you have on hand. We prefer to serve goat cheese with with a Champagne, sherry or white vinegarette and good olive oil or an olive oil/nut oil mix (hazelnut oil and walnut oil are absolutely delicious). Other special salad mixes to serve with crottin or other goat cheese:

Crottins are generous individual portions. If you just want a bite of cheese, split a crottin in two. Photo of aged crottin by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

 
There’s no need to serve bread or crackers with the cheese. But if you want to, consider raisin, raisin-walnut or semolina, lightly toasted.

TURN THE CROTTIN INTO “CHEESECAKE”

If you want more of a dessert, simply dress up the crottin. You can use individual crottins or slice a goat cheese log or round to create a dessert that’s essentially a deconstructed cheesecake.

Brush up on the different types of cheeses in our Cheese Glossary.

Find more of our favorite cheeses in our Gourmet Cheese Section.