Kawara Soba

Noodles on a roof tile, that is what you see on the first sight. Called Kawara Soba (true to how it is served), it has been known as one of popular regional gourmet in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

How it was invented is said to be like this: inspired by the story about soldiers in 1970s during a war that they used to eat meat and wild grass cooked on a Kawara (a roof tile), a founder of a Kawara Soba speciality restaurant called Ganso (meaning the original) Kawara Soba Takase started to serve to local people. After it had gained great popularity and become one of the signature dishes at the restaurant that was around Kawatana Onsen (hot springs) area, many other restaurants in other regions started serving, and eventually became known as one of Yamaguchi local dishes.

When you hear of “soba”, you might at first think about greyish noodle made from buckwheat. On the other hand, soba of Kawara Soba looks different – its colour is green as matcha is infused as one of the ingredients. That type of soba is widely known as “Chasoba”. You would notice its nice scent coming from Chasoba in eating it. Furthermore, soba used for Kawara Soba is cooked by frying while greyish soba is just boiled.

However, you must be wondering why the soba is put on a Kawara roof tile. This is because Kawara has the far-infrared heating function to keep the temperature so that soba can be enjoyed without being cold.

The typical condiments on the top of Chasoba on Kawara roof tile are; kinshi tamago (shredded egg crapes), some slice of salty-sweet pork, slices of seaweed, green onions, slices of lemons and momiji oroshi (grated radish and chilli). Then, a complete Kawara Soba set comes with one bowl of warm soup which is made from kelp and bonito (or dashi). So you are supposed to dip Soba and toppings with the soup. As you keep eating, because of Kawara’s temperature on its surface, the noodles will gradually become crispy, so you can enjoy the different texture of the soba.

Although there are plenty of nice restaurants in Yamaguchi to try Kawara Soba, you can also enjoy it at home – you will find a cooking kit for Kawara Soba at supermarkets there. You would cook it with frying pan instead of Kawara probably though. How about getting it as a souvenir?

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