Let’s Talk Food — Making soba is an art form

By AUDREY WILSON

Some 40 members and friends of Puna Hongwanji Mission were fortunate to have Yoshio Yamaguchi share his knowledge of soba making.

Mr. Yamaguchi attended soba school in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, for a year. He practiced at home and fed his family soba every day until the family, including Mr. Yamaguchi, got sick and tired of soba! That shows the complete dedication to perfect the art of soba making!

Mr. Yamaguchi makes soba daily at his restaurant in Fukui Prefecture, a 1 1/2 hour “shinkansen,” or bullet train ride, from Kyoto. His soba shop is located across the entrance to a famous Zen temple in the area. There is a glass enclosure where customers can watch the kneading, rolling, and cutting of soba.

A soba maker is very particular about the soba flour used. It is like a competition, with each prefecture thinking that its buckwheat is the best. Mr. Yamaguchi claims the soba flour from Fukui Prefecture is the best, and the inner germ, which produces a white buckwheat flour, is what he uses to flour his board and dough. This white dough is so expensive that he uses a whisk broom and dust pan to gather up every bit of the flour left over on the board, sifts it and returns it to the bag for reuse. After the noodles are cooked in the boiling water, the white water is mixed with soba tsuyu and served after the meal.

Mr. Yamaguchi says the soba dough should have about 40 percent moisture and the Hilo rain does affect the amount of water added. With one bag, one kilo of buckwheat flour, and about 480 milliliters of water, he kneaded and mixed until the dough formed little balls. Then he sprinkled water until the mixtures came together and then continued to knead until a smooth dough was formed.

The board is very large, wooden dowel is about one-inch thick and 3 to 4 feet long. He has two sizes of rollers and of different weights; one about 3 1/2 feet and lighter and a longer one which is a little heavier wood. He rolled, rerolled, until the dough was very thin and took the shape of a rectangle. The total time from the mixing of the water with the buckwheat dough until ready to cut was about 40 minutes.

Cutting requires a special soba cutting knife. It is made especially for the soba maker and has his name on the blade of the knife. It is the weight he feels comfortable with. Mr. Yamaguchi uses a board as a guide to cut and as he cuts, also moves it precisely for the next cut. So precise is his every cut that he deliberately cuts a few larger pieces so it will not be mistaken for machine cut soba.

I was honored to be one of the three in the audience to cut the soba. I apologized to Mr. Yamaguchi as I said, “hidarigicho,” or left-handed. He explained in Japanese that his soba-cutting knife is made for a right handed soba maker and the tapered, sharp side would be opposite for a left-handed soba maker. With such concentration, I tried to cut and then move the board to my next cut. I tried my best but could not get close to the proper size. Mr. Yamaguchi laughed at us as he muttered, “udon,” which is a larger sized noodle. The audience laughed at us for making the wrong sized noodle!

The noodle was placed in boiling water and cooked until Mr. Yamaguchi felt it was ready. He could not tell us the amount of minutes as he said each stove is different, so you just have to know and taste one noodle to see if it is ready. The cooked noodles were scooped out with a colander and placed immediately into cold water, where he vigorously washed the noodles, drained the noodles and then dunked it in iced water. Again, he vigorously washed the noodles.

He served cold noodles with “daikon-oroshi” (grated daikon with the juices). We grew up calling it “daikon suri,” which is incorrect, because “suri” in the action of grating the daikon and the end result is “daikon-oroshi.” “Shichimi,” a powder made of dried daikon and chili pepper that he brought from Japan, was added to the “daikon oroshi.” He explained that the daikon in Hawaii is sweet and the powder gives it a stronger flavor. Somen tsuyu was also added, no recipe, he just knew by taste if it was enough. The “daikon-oroshi” covered the top of soba, then a handful of shaved bonito or “katsuoboshi” was scattered on top and finished with about one tablespoon of chopped green onion. Simple but highlighting the noodles, it was one of the best soba I have ever eaten! It had a al dente crunch that only freshly made soba could have. I don’t know if I could eat another package of dried soba!

Foodie Bites

The cafeteria and Bamboo Hale are open this week through Thursday. Call the cafeteria for their specials at 934-2559 and 934-2562 for reservations for Greek food at the Bamboo Hale.

Tomorrow is leap year and Sadie Hawkins Day. Single gals, this is your chance to pop the question.

Happy Birthday to Mary Gaddis and Alex Oliver; just two I know who have birthdays once in four years!

Please feel free to e-mail me at wilson.audrey@hawaiiantel.net if you have a question. Bon appetit until next week.