Noodles ── Soba
Sobayu
Sobayu — the hot water soba is boiled in, drunk with leftover dipping sauce after the meal
The hot water soba noodles were boiled in, poured into the leftover dipping sauce and drunk once the meal is finished. The custom is said to have started in Shinshu and spread to Edo around the Kanen era (1748–51) in the mid-Edo period. Roughly half of soba's protein is said to dissolve into this water.
Lineage
What it's made of
It is simply the water soba was boiled in, turned cloudy white and faintly thick. The standard way to enjoy it is to pour it into whatever dipping sauce is left after finishing a plate of mori soba. Roughly half of soba's protein is said to be water-soluble, so sobayu is said to carry a good share of the noodle's own savoriness dissolved into it.
How it's made
The water soba was boiled in is poured straight into a cup, then added to the leftover dipping sauce at whatever strength suits the drinker. Some are said to prefer it plain, with no sauce added at all. The boiling water from udon or hiyamugi is not treated the same way, and sobayu alone is said to have taken root as this particular custom.
Why it took this shape
The custom of drinking sobayu is said to have begun in Shinshu, spreading to Edo around the Kanen era (1748–51) in the mid-Edo period. Beyond the simple reason that it tastes good on its own, it is said to have also served the practical purpose of taking the edge off hunger. It is described as the final move in a full sitting of mori soba, closing out the meal's satisfaction.
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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.