Cold Soba and Udon Magic

My order of preference: ramen (the real stuff, not the instant cup of
noodles; dried is acceptable), soba, and udon. Udon is too darn filling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/10/dining/10RSID.html

Cold Soba and Udon Magic
November 10, 2004 By JULIA MOSKIN

SOBA noodles, made from buckwheat flour, are very popular
in Japan, but they are treated more reverently than ramen.
Traditionally the Japanese take hikkoshi soba (moving soba)
to new neighbors and eat toshikoshi soba (year-crossing
soba) on New Year's Eve in hopes of a long and unbroken
life (that is, a life like a noodle). In New York fresh
soba is made daily at Honmura An, Soba-Ya, Soba Nippon and
now at Onigashima, sometimes right in the dining room.
Purists eat their soba cold, with nothing at all or perhaps
a cup of chilled dashi (a broth of dried fish and kelp) for
dipping, to savor the nuttiness of the wheat. But fresh
soba also tastes great - and is also served in Japan in the
winter - in a bowl of hot dashi, sprinkled with scallions
and sliced roast duck.

Both soba and udon noodles are often served topped with
tempura (fried vegetables or fish), but some New York
restaurants are serving tempura separately. "Our American
customers want the tempura to stay crispy," said Satoru
Chida, the chef at Onigashima. "But Japanese like it both
ways, paripari" - crisp - "and yawara kai," or soft and
gooey.

The most recent Japanese noodle fad is for a kind of udon,
a thick, springy noodle made from fine white flour. Sanuki
udon is everyday fare in the southwestern region of Kagawa.
It has a noticeable chewiness, achieved by walking or
dancing on the dough to knead it. But it was little known
until 2002, when a Kagawa university professor published a
surprisingly entertaining book, "Osorubeki Sanuki Udon"
("The Magic of Sanuki Udon"), with about 800 tasting
reports on local noodle shops. The book became a national
best seller, and Kagawa has developed a Sanuki udon cottage
industry of tours, classes and tastings, like the Peter
Mayle-theme tours of Provence.

The first Sanuki udon restaurant in Tokyo, a
cafeteria-style place called Hanamaru, opened in 2002.
There are now more than 100 branches in Japan. Sanuki udon
is available, imported frozen, at Soba Nippon, and Naduman
Hakubai will soon be serving it fresh. A group of New
York-based Kagawa natives have formed the Sanuki Project,
dedicated to bringing fresh sanuki udon to our shores.

"We ate sanuki udon every day in school," said Miki Osaka,
a leader of the group. "Ramen is O.K., but we need sanuki."
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