zaru soba

Zaru soba is a cold Japanese noodle dish in which soba is served on a tray with dipping sauce in a separate vessel. Diners lift a small portion with chopsticks and dip it before eating. The cool noodles make it especially familiar in summer, while the same noodle family is also served hot as kake soba. Soba contains buckwheat flour, but the blend need not be pure buckwheat: some makers combine it with wheat flour and use yam in the dough.^[1][3]

Spring onion and wasabi are common accompaniments, with other condiments varying by shop. A sweet soy-based dipping sauce is a familiar choice, but walnut sauce and a duck dipping sauce also appear on specialist soba menus. Tempura may be served alongside.^[2][3]