This delicious, ready-made soba is handmade by a soba restaurant called, Kurekino

How time flies. Now it is the end of December.

It’s customary in Japan to eat soba on New Year’s Eve, and this custom is called, “Toshikoshi-soba”.

I have to order a ready-made soba at this time of the year.

I usually spend New Year’s Eve at my home, and I eat Toshikoshi-soba at that time.

I make a point of buying ready-made soba from the soba restaurant every year.

Though most soba restaurants don’t offer ready-made soba, there are a few restaurants that sell high quality, ready-made soba.

I’ll introduce one of them this time.

I’ll eat it this New Year’s Eve.

This ready-made soba is handmade by a soba restaurant called, Kurekino.

Soba is called by various names depending on the ratio between the buckwheat flour and the binding agent, such as wheat flour.

Their soba is called, Nihachi-soba (twenty percent wheat flour and eighty percent buckwheat flour). This is the most popular type of soba.

Special buckwheat flour, which is made in Nagano Prefecture, and natural water from the Minami Alps are used in their soba.

Generally speaking, soba is sold in a dried or raw form.

Their soba is in a raw form, and it is sent by refrigerated shipping.

Some soba dipping sauce is attached with this soba.

I prefer cold soba.

This is because cold soba has a stronger buckwheat flavor compared to hot soba.

So I usually eat cold soba with cold dipping sauce. But I occasionally eat cold soba with hot dipping sauce that contains some duck meat. 

This way of eating soba is called, “Kamo-seiro”.

I recommend that during the coldest part of winter.

Their ready-made soba is great.

That is completely different from soba that is sold at the supermarket.

In particular, it has a really rich buckwheat flavor and a chewy texture.

In addition, their soba dipping sauce is also very good. 

That is the most delicious ready-made soba that I have ever eaten.