Zaru Soba - Cold Soba Noodles

The tradition of eating soba originates from the Tokugawa period, also called the Edo period, from 1603 to 1868. In the Tokugawa era, every neighborhood had one or two soba establishments, many also serving sake, which functioned much like modern cafes where locals would stop for a casual meal.
At that time, the population of Edo, now modern Tokyo, being considerably wealthier than the rural poor, were more susceptible to beriberi due to their high consumption of white rice, which is low in thiamine.
It was discovered that beriberi could be prevented by regularly eating thiamine-rich soba. Soba is the traditional noodle of choice for Tokyo residents.

Chilled soba is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray called a zaru, sometimes garnished with bits of dried nori seaweed, with a dipping sauce known as soba tsuyu on the side. The tsuyu is made of a strong mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce also called "satōjōyu" and mirin. Using chopsticks, the diner picks up a small amount of soba from the tray and dips it in the cold tsuyu before eating it. Wasabi and scallions are often mixed into the tsuyu. Many people think that the best way to experience the unique texture of hand-made soba noodles is to eat them cold, since letting them soak in hot broth changes their consistency. After the noodles are eaten, many people enjoy drinking the water in which the noodles were cooked "sobayu", mixed with the leftover tsuyu.

First make the Mentsuyu dipping sauce:
1/2 cup sake
1 cup mirin
1 cup soy sauce
One 2x2 inch kombu
1 cup packed katsuobushi
In a medium saucepan, add sake and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Let the alcohol evaporate for a few seconds. Add mirin and soy sauce. Then add kombu and katsuobushi.
Bring it to a boil and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside until cool down.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and now the Mentsuyu is ready to use. For a dipping sauce, you dilute the concentrated mentsuyu with water, either 2 or 3 parts water. For a soup base, you will likely dilute the concentrated with 4 or 5 parts water.

14 oz. dried Soba noodles

Zaru Soba toppings:
2 green onions, finely chopped
Wasabi paste
Kizami Nori - finely shredded nori sheet

To make the soba noodles, boil water in a large pot. Do not add salt to the water. Add dried soba noodles in the boiling water separating the noodles from each other. Boil soba noodles according to the package instructions - usual is 4 minutes. Stir the noodles so they don’t stick to each other. Check the tenderness and do not overcook. Drain the noodles into a colander and wash the noodles in a cold running water to get rid of the excess starch. This is very important and key to great tasting noodle.
Put chopped green onions and wasabi on a small plate. Serve soba noodles on a tray or dish. Sprinkle Kizami Nori on top right before you serve.