Toshikoshi Soba

hot buckwheat soba in a clear dashi-and-soy broth, eaten across Japan on the last night of the year, the long strand standing for long life and its easy breaking for cutting away the troubles of the old year

Origin: Japan

From the journey of Buckwheat.

On ōmisoka, the last night of the year, households all across Japan sit down to a bowl of toshikoshi soba, the 'year-crossing noodle'. The custom, settled by the Edo period, rests on a web of meanings folded into the humble buckwheat noodle: its length symbolises a long and enduring life, while the fact that soba, unlike a wheat noodle, snaps and breaks easily makes it the perfect thing to eat in order to sever the hardships, regrets, and misfortunes of the closing year before stepping into the new. Some add that buckwheat's hardiness, springing back after wind and rain, stands for resilience. The dish itself is simple and warming: hot soba in a clear, fragrant broth of dashi, soy, and mirin, topped as the household prefers, with sliced spring onion, a piece of tempura, fish cake, or a raw egg cracked in to poach. Eaten in the last quiet hours of the year, often as the temple bells begin to ring, it is among the most beloved of all Japanese food rituals.

Ingredients

The Noodles

200 g dried soba (buckwheat) noodles

The Broth

800 ml dashi
60 ml soy sauce
60 ml mirin
1 tsp sugar
0.5 tsp salt, or to taste

To Serve

2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
2 pieces prawn or vegetable tempura, or kamaboko fish cake (optional)
1 pinch shichimi togarashi (seven-spice), to taste

Method

Make the broth: gently warm the mirin to drive off the alcohol, then add the dashi, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer, taste, and adjust. Keep hot.
Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil and cook the soba for the time on the packet, usually 4 to 5 minutes, until tender but still springy.
Drain the noodles and rinse briefly under hot water to remove surface starch, then divide between two warmed deep bowls.
Ladle the hot broth over the noodles.
Top with the spring onions, a piece of tempura or fish cake if using, and a pinch of shichimi togarashi. Serve at once, ideally in the last hours of the old year.

Notes

Toppings vary by region and household: Tokyo favours tempura or a slice of fish cake, while in some areas a raw egg is dropped in to poach in the hot broth (tsukimi, 'moon-viewing', soba). It is considered good fortune to finish the bowl before midnight. A 100 per cent buckwheat (jūwari) noodle is especially prized for the occasion.

The Gastrographer

Name: Toshikoshi Soba
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 200 g dried soba (buckwheat) noodles; 800 ml dashi; 60 ml soy sauce; 60 ml mirin; 1 tsp sugar; 0.5 tsp salt, or to taste; 2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal; 2 pieces prawn or vegetable tempura, or kamaboko fish cake (optional); 1 pinch shichimi togarashi (seven-spice), to taste

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control