Zaru Soba

1. Pour the ice water, possibly with a few ice cubes, into a bowl and set aside.
2. Boil a large pot of water and cook the soba according to the cooking time indicated on the packaging, generally 4 to 5 minutes maximum.
3. Drain the noodles and rinse them well, rubbing them to remove the excess starch, then pour them into the bowl of reserved ice water to cool them completely.

Assembly

1. Place a little scallion and wasabi in 4 small cups.
2. Fill 4 bowls with approximately ⅓ cup (90 ml) of mentsuyu and 1 cup (250 ml) of very cold water. If the mixture is too salty, add a little more cold water.
3. Add a little wasabi and finely chopped chives to this broth.
4. Drain the soba and arrange them on a traditional bamboo zaru tray and sprinkle with nori strips.
5. To taste, soak the noodles in the cold broth before tasting them.

Ratings

1. It is possible to add the soba cooking water to the mentsuyu.
2. There are many different types of soba that can be used for this recipe
3. Soba hachi-wari (hachi-wari means “80%” in Japanese). It is a very common type of soba made from 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour.
4. Soba jyu-wari, made from 100% buckwheat flour, with a taste close to hazelnut.
5. Green tea soba, containing powdered green tea for its green tea taste and attractive green color.
6. Ume plum soba, flavored with traditional Japanese ume plum and pink in color.