On hot days like today, I often crave the cool buckwheat Japanese noodles - soba. And my favorite way to eat cold soba is with tempura shrimp and veggies, shredded dried seaweed and a dipping sauce mixed with a good helping of wasabi and scallions.
I remember the first time eating this dish. My grandmother introduced ten zaru soba to me while we traveled to Japan together back in 2002. It was summer, so the weather was hot and humid. And we just finished visiting some temples with family members. Famished, we stopped at a local restaurant near her hometown - in Taiji, Wakayama-ken, and ordered this humble dish. It was absolutely delicious!
What comes close to that memorable summer trip would be the homemade, fresh soba noodles made from buckwheat and whole wheat flours at Yabu Restaurant in West Los Angeles. At Yabu, they craft their noodles daily, along with their dashi fish broth that's used in their dipping sauce as well - a true artisanal craft. Yabu also has other small Japanese dishes, but I would go just for their noodles.
I'm thinking that if it's as hot tomorrow as it was today, MS and I might stop in for a light dinner out at Yabu Restaurant for some cold sansai soba with mixed Japanese wild vegetables, spinach and sprouts.
YUM!
Yabu Restaurant
street: 11820 W. Pico Boulevard | Los Angeles, CA 90064
tel: 1.310.473.9757
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