This dish and other similar ones are traditionally eaten with chopsticks and a soup spoon, so it can be a little tricky if you’re not used to it!
Fresh soba noodles, such as those used at the restaurant I visited, are hand-made. Dough made from mostly buckwheat flour is sliced thinly into noodles. These noodles are then cooked immediately after slicing, to prevent the dough from drying up. The noodles are then eaten as is, or mixed with a broth to create a soup dish. In my case, they were put into a salty broth, and were topped with slices of pork, green onions, and bamboo shoots.
Soba has been served for about 400 years, with its origin being in buckwheat’s ability to be cultivated even in times of drought. Its ease of preparation led it to be eaten all over the country, and it's still eaten everywhere today. It can especially be found in more historical areas of Japan, like Asakusa, the area I was in.
