Noodles ── Soba
Mori Soba and Zaru Soba
Mori soba and zaru soba — cold soba dipped in sauce, plain or crowned with nori
The basic cold soba: noodles boiled and rinsed in cold water, then dipped in sauce. "Mori" is said to have spread as a name distinguishing the dip-and-eat style from pouring sauce directly over the noodles, while "zaru," older still, is said to trace to noodles served on a bamboo strainer. Today the main difference is said to come down to whether nori is sprinkled on top.
Lineage
What it's made of
It is cold soba: noodles boiled, then rinsed firm in cold water and dipped in sauce. Mori and zaru are said not to differ much in substance — the main difference lies in the serving vessel and whether nori is sprinkled on top. Nori is said to have only started appearing on zaru soba from the Meiji era onward, when shops are said to have used a dedicated zaru sauce.
How it's made
Boiled noodles are rinsed firm in cold water, drained, and plated. Some shops are said to still prepare a separate sauce for zaru, but today the main distinction for most shops is said to simply be whether nori goes on top. Mori is typically served in a deep bowl, zaru on a bamboo or wooden strainer, it is said.
Why it took this shape
In Edo's Genroku era, when pouring sauce directly over the noodles — bukkake — came into fashion, the older dip-and-eat style is said to have picked up the name mori to distinguish it. Zaru, older still, is said to trace to a shop called Iseya in Fukagawa Susaki during the Genroku era, whose noodles served on a bamboo strainer won it fame, and by 1735 it was already introduced as one of Edo's celebrated soba.
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Dishes in the same style
- Baniku SobaFrom the Aso area of Kumamoto: hot soba topped with horse meat simmered sweet and salty. It's said to carry the history of a region where horse meat took root as a restorative food for the injured and ill.
- Cha SobaA kawari-soba made by kneading powdered green tea, often matcha, into the buckwheat dough. It takes on a faint green tint along with tea's own aroma. It is said to be one of the playful noodle variations devised during the Bunka-Bunsei era (1804–30), alongside yuzu-flavored soba.