Many kinds of noodles are made from buckwheat flour. Usually some wheat flour is added. In kakesoba the noodles are served in a delicious brothwith finely sliced long onions (naganegi) on top. In zarusoba the noodles are boiled and then served cold on a thin bamboo mat. The noodles are dipped into a dipping sauce with condiments like naganegi and wasabi paste. Like spaghetti, the noodles can be made just before cooking (teuchisoba) or dried and stored. Buckwheat is nutritious because it has protein and vitamin B. The plant grows in cold mountain areas. These noodles are particularly good in prefectures like Nagano and Yamagata. In Tokyo, the sophisticated way to enjoy noodles at a soba shop is to have something to eat and have a bit of saké before enjoying the soba itself. Good soba shops offer delicious side dishes including rolled Japanese-style omelette, slices of fish cake with wasabi (itawasa) and tempura. If one drinks saké, the graceful way is to stay within a limit of two and a half go.

(1 go = 180 ml) of saké.