Buckwheat Noodles – Soba

The dried Japanese soba noodles are readily available here and they are not limited to Asian groceries. Supermarkets like Countdown and New World also carry them.

Buckwheat noodles are usually made from buckwheat with a little bit of ordinary wheat as a binding agent. Buckwheat itself is not true wheat but more like a herb related to knotweed and sorrel. It has grain-like seeds which can be harvested many times a year. Buckwheat noodles are more complex than ordinary wheat noodles and contain many amino acids (protein).There are also pure buckwheat noodles available in some shops for people with gluten free diet.

I cook with soba noodles from time to time. I will post one recipe this week. Many of my soba dishes are not necessary true Japanese but they are easy and I hope you will find them tasty too.