Comments on: Fresh Buckwheat Noodles

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:37:56 +0000

Geez, I have no idea what buckwheat even looks like, let alone that it grows on our shores…

By: Footloose

Footloose — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 11:16:45 +0000

They grow here too (Southern Ontario) adjacent to apiaries that produce buckwheat honey, a breakfast staple that Canadian friends are fond of. It has a funky flavour that Filipinos sniff at although not as dismissively as they do at our frying garlic.

By: millet

millet — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 02:50:24 +0000

MM, do you know that buckwheat is grown here in Mindanao (I think near Dipolog) by a Japanese company?

By: emsy

emsy — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 15:14:29 +0000

I think these are called hele (huh-luh). Strangely, the same word can also be used for a kind of noodle made from sorghum. Usually made with 100% buckwheat/sorghum flour but I’ve seen grocery versions that are lighter in color and has a chewier texture from the addition of wheat flour. All are popular Northern Chinese food items. Flavor takes a bit getting used to because to me, it seemed to leave a grassy/bitter-ish taste whether it’s stir fried, in a soup, or cold. Not really unpleasant…just…odd.

By: ami

ami — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 00:39:37 +0000

I had dinner earlier this year in Honke Owariya, the oldest restaurant in Japan (since 1465) which specializes in soba and confectionaries. It seems that soba in Japan has a different color than the ones you encountered in China. The ones in Japan are lighter in color (greyish light brown). I read somewhere that 100% buckwheat soba noodles tend to be brittle so they mix in wheat flour

By: Footloose

Footloose — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 23:08:27 +0000

In Europe and more recently here in North America, pickling is the favoured hobby of old men. Apparently, in Japan, it’s taking soba making lessons from celebrated masters. Youtube has lots of related clips on the subject. And yes, reconstituted dried soba is but a pale shadow of freshly made ones and without previous knowledge, one might even assume they are unrelated.