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This website explains the appeal of soba, Japan’s national dish.
Soba is a very important dish for Japanese people. The reason is that Soba is originally a dish for entertaining important guests.
Soba, which was prepared with a lot of care and attention, was the best way to welcome guests.
Therefore, eating Soba has a special meaning for Japanese people.
In Japan, there is a custom of eating “Toshikoshi Soba(年越し蕎麦)” at the end of the year to wish happiness to oneself and others.
Soba has always been a food that has been close to people and has brought happiness to people.
We hope you will discover the profound charm of Japanese buckwheat noodles.
Reviving the taste of 400 years ago, Toranosuke Katayama(片山虎之介)’s handmade soba noodles ➡︎
Describes the author who created this site.
My name is Toranosuke Katayama(片山虎之介) and I am a researcher of soba techniques and culture in Japan.
I have been working to preserve the traditional Japanese buckwheat noodle food culture.
Why do we need to protect the food culture of Japanese buckwheat noodles?
Nowadays, the traditional soba culture is being forgotten.
This is because soba, a food that is very labor-intensive to make, has been changed to a labor-saving method in modern times.
Originally, Japanese buckwheat noodles were made by hand. This is called “Teuchi-Soba(手打ち蕎麦).
Today, however, the method has been changed to mass production using machines.
The taste of soba made in this way is different from that of the original “Teuchi-soba(手打ち蕎麦).
The Japanese buckwheat noodles made in the Edo period were much tastier than today’s buckwheat noodles.
I have been researching for more than 30 years to find out how to make delicious soba.
I have succeeded in reproducing the taste of soba as it was made four centuries ago.
The results are posted on this website.
I will be uploading more information in the future, so please bear with me.
⬇︎Link to the website of the soba noodle making school run by Toranosuke Katayama(片山虎之介) in Tokyo.
⬇︎Link to “Basic Knowledge of Soba” page
How to Make Soba Noodles
Soba is a difficult dish to make.
That said, if you cut corners in making it, the taste will surely suffer as a result.
The “How to Make Soba Noodles” page explains how to make really delicious Soba noodles.
Please use this method to make delicious Soba noodles, even if you are from overseas.
※ I have a request. Please do not think that dried buckwheat noodles taste like Japanese buckwheat noodles. Dried noodles are an industrial product mass-produced in factories and are a completely different food from handmade soba. Real soba is much, much better.
Toranosuke Katayama’s(片山虎之介) Soba Making Class
If you wish, Toranosuke Katayama(片山虎之介) can teach you directly.
If you want to improve your soba noodle making skills, please sign up.
Official website introducing Toranosuke Katayama(片山虎之介)’s activities
Soba making classes, Tokyo. Ginza, Toranomon, Minami Aoyama,
How to cook buckwheat dry noodles in a microwave oven, You Tube
English-language newspaper in which Toranosuke Katayama was introduced
All photos and text on this site are copyrighted by Toranosuke Katayama(片山虎之介). Unauthorized use is prohibited.