Noodles ── Soba
Taishu Soba
Taishu Soba — small-grained buckwheat from an isolated island
A small-grained heirloom buckwheat from Tsushima, Nagasaki. Isolation on the island is said to have kept crossbreeding low and preserved traits close to the wild ancestor, giving the noodle a firm bite and a faint bitterness. In 2018 it became the first soba registered under Japan's GI system.
- Origin: Nagasaki Tsushima
- About 970 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Taishu soba is a noodle made from a small-grained heirloom buckwheat. It's said to carry a firm bite and a distinctive flavor with a faint bitterness. Beyond mori and kake styles, it's also enjoyed folded into Tsushima's local dish iriyaki, as iriyaki-soba.
How it's made
The noodle is boiled, rinsed in cold water to remove its surface starch, and served plain in a bowl with chopped nori and scallion as the only garnish. Keeping the preparation simple is said to let the variety's own aroma and bitterness carry the dish, rather than dressing it up.
Why it took this shape
Buckwheat's wild ancestor is thought to trace to southern China or the Himalayan foothills, reaching Tsushima by way of the Korean peninsula in the Jomon period. Because the island is isolated, the crop is said to have crossed little with other varieties and kept close to its original form — in 2018 it became the first soba to be registered under Japan's geographical indication (GI) system.
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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.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Nagasaki
- ArumadoA hard-boiled egg dyed pink is wrapped in fish paste and steamed into a kamaboko log that shows a pink-rimmed cross-section when cut — a Hirado specialty, with kin dishes called "arimado" in Sasebo and "ryugan" in Nagasaki.
- Goto UdonA hand-pulled noodle from Shinkamigoto, Nagasaki. Its technique is thought to trace back to envoys returning from Tang China, and the island's camellia oil is worked into the dough for a smooth, elastic bite.
- HanahajikiCucumber, carrot, deep-fried tofu, and shrimp are cut into strips and fanned out on a plate to be dipped in a hot mustard vinegar-miso — a dish from Isahaya said to be named for how the mustard "flicks the nose," traditionally served at Buddhist memorial services.
- HatoshiShrimp and squid paste sandwiched in bread and deep-fried, a Nagasaki specialty said to have arrived from China in the Meiji era, growing from a shippoku banquet course into a food loved across the city.
- HikadoFish or chicken and vegetables like daikon and carrot are diced fine and simmered, thickened at the end with grated sweet potato — said to originate in a meat stew eaten by Portuguese residents of Nagasaki, its name from the Portuguese word for "minced."
- HikitoshiChicken raised at home is butchered for this Iki hot pot, typically enriched with iki-doufu, a rich local tofu, and firm-boiled somen — said to have begun as a dish served to guests in the inner parlor, its name tracing to "hiki-toshi," leading a guest through.