Soba and udon

Pure buckwheat noodles (jūwari soba) are fragile, so most soba contains a binder, usually wheat flour. The classic ratio is nihachi soba: two parts wheat to eight parts buckwheat. The degree of milling changes colour and flavour, from pale sarashina soba made from the inner kernel to dark, rustic inaka soba with the husk.

Soba is eaten cold on a bamboo tray with a dipping sauce, or hot in broth with toppings. After a cold serving, the cooking water (soba-yu) is poured into the leftover sauce and drunk. On New Year's Eve many households eat toshikoshi soba, 'year-crossing noodles', whose easy breaking symbolises letting go of the year's hardships.

Udon is made from wheat flour, salt and water, kneaded, often by foot, and rested to develop elasticity. Thickness and texture vary by region, from the firm, chewy noodles of Kagawa to the very soft udon of Fukuoka and Ise. The broth in western Japan is pale and based on kombu, while Tokyo udon broth is darker.

Popular toppings include deep-fried tofu, tempura and raw egg. Names differ between regions: in Osaka, kitsune udon is topped with sweet fried tofu, while in Kyoto 'tanuki' means a thickened broth with fried tofu, and in Tokyo tanuki means a topping of tempura crumbs.

Mountainous Nagano Prefecture, the old province of Shinano (Shinshu), is the best-known soba region. Three styles are often called Japan's three great soba: Wanko soba from Iwate, Izumo soba from Shimane and Togakushi soba from Nagano.

Kagawa Prefecture, the former province of Sanuki, calls itself 'Udon Prefecture'. Local tradition credits the monk Kūkai, born in Sanuki, with bringing udon-making from China, although this cannot be proven. Its dry climate suited wheat and salt production, and hundreds of udon shops range from self-service counters to farmhouse restaurants.

Noodles are lifted with chopsticks and slurped; the sound is normal and helps to cool hot noodles and carry the aroma of cold ones. With cold soba, a small amount of noodles is dipped briefly into the sauce, only partly immersed, so the buckwheat flavour is not overwhelmed. Wasabi and spring onion are added to the sauce gradually.

It is acceptable to lift the bowl of hot noodles to drink the broth. Standing noodle counters (tachigui soba) at railway stations serve bowls within a minute and are one of the quickest meals in Japan.