Soba

Soba is one of the Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour.
It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot soy-based broth. Chilled soba (cold soba) is very popular during the summer and Soba in hot broth is popular during the winter.

Chilled soba is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray called a Zaru like the picture above, sometimes garnished with bits of dried seaweed, with a dipping sauce known as soba tsuyu on the side. Wasabi and leeks are often added into the tsuyu.