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Japanese

Zaru soba

Non-vegetarian

ざるそば · zaru soba

Chilled buckwheat noodles served on a bamboo tray with a concentrated soy-dashi dipping sauce, spring onion and nori — a cooling summer lunch.

Zaru soba is a Japanese noodle dish, ready in about 45 minutes and made with soba noodles and soy sauce. It serves 2 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Top view of soba noodles served on a bamboo mat with a side of dipping sauce in Hakodate, Japan.
Photo: minami okamoto / Pexels · Pexels License
Prep
5 min
Cook
10 min
Rest
30 min
Total
45 min
Serves
2
Level
Easy
Calories
374

Ingredients

2 servings

For the dipping sauce (tsuyu)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Bring the mirin (opens in a new tab) to a boil in a small saucepan (opens in a new tab), add the soy sauce (opens in a new tab) and dashi (opens in a new tab) and return to a simmer. Cool, then chill the sauce.

    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Cook the soba (opens in a new tab) in a large pot of boiling water, stirring at first, until just tender.

    Add a splash of cold water if it threatens to boil over.

  3. Step 3

    Drain into a sieve and rinse under cold running water, rubbing gently to remove the surface starch, then plunge into iced water and drain well.

    Liquid being strained through a sieve
    How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Pile the noodles on plates or bamboo trays and top with nori (opens in a new tab). Serve the cold sauce in small cups with spring onion (opens in a new tab) and daikon (opens in a new tab) to stir in; dip a few noodles at a time.

    • 1 min

About this dish

Origin
Japan · Well documentedMore food from Japan
Dish
Lunch · Noodles · Main courses
Cooking method
Boiled
Taste
umami, earthy, refreshing, mild
Diet
Pescatarian · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labelsPescatarian · Non-vegetarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · Calorie-conscious
With the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Vegetarian (lacto-ovo), Eggetarian, Lacto-vegetarian, Ovo-vegetarianWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Make-ahead
Cook more with
Soba noodles · Soy sauce · Dashi · Mirin · Spring onion
Techniques
Boiling · Simmering · Blanching

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Fishfrom dashi
  • Contains: Wheatfrom soba noodles, soy sauce
  • Contains: Glutenfrom soba noodles, soy sauce
  • Contains: Soyfrom soy sauce

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

374 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 201 g · recipe makes 2

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 18%
  • Carbohydrate 79%
  • Fat 3%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy374 kcal186 kcal
Protein17.2 g8.6 g
Carbohydrate77 g38.4 g
Net carbohydrate——
Sugars——
Added sugars——
Fibre——
Fat1.3 g0.6 g
Saturated fat0.3 g0.1 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol1 mg0 mg
Sodium1630 mg813 mg
Salt equivalent4.1 g2 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
442 mg
Calcium
53 mg
Iron
3.1 mg
Magnesium
113 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
9 µg
Vitamin C
3 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0.4 µg
Folate (DFE)
73 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: nori, daikon.
  • Dashi: Home-prepared fish stock (FDC 172885) used as a stand-in for katsuobushi-kombu dashi; both are very low in energy.
  • Mirin: Sake (FDC 167723) used as a stand-in; true mirin is sweeter, so sugar is underestimated.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Thorough rinsing is what keeps cold soba from turning gummy.

Common mistakes

  • Not rinsing the soba thoroughly — surface starch makes the noodles gummy and dull.
  • Overcooking: soba goes from springy to mushy in under a minute, so test early.

Serve with

  • Serve with tempura for tenzaru soba.

Storage

  • The dipping sauce keeps for a week in the fridge; cook the noodles fresh.

Variations

  • Tenzaru: Zaru soba served alongside shrimp and vegetable tempura.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 2, 3, 4

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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