🍜 Zaru Soba (Cold Soba)
Cold soba is a Japanese summer dish of buckwheat noodles boiled, rinsed in cold water and served chilled, often on a bamboo tray. Each bite is dipped into tsuyu, a savoury-sweet dipping sauce, seasoned with chopped scallion and a little wasabi, and topped with strips of nori. The noodles are nutty and firm, and the whole dish is light and refreshing.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g dried soba noodles
- 200 ml tsuyu (dipping sauce), diluted as directed
- 2 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 sheet nori, cut into thin strips
- 1 tsp wasabi
- Ice water for rinsing
Method
- Boil the soba in plenty of water according to the packet, usually 4–5 minutes.
- Drain and rinse under cold running water, rubbing gently to remove starch.
- Chill briefly in ice water, then drain well.
- Pile the noodles on plates and top with nori.
- Serve with small bowls of cold tsuyu, scallion and wasabi for dipping.
How to make it lighter
- Dip the noodles lightly instead of soaking them — tsuyu is salty and slightly sweet.
- Weigh the dry noodles: 100 g dry per person is a standard portion.
- Add extra scallion and nori for more volume without many calories.
History
Soba noodles became a popular fast food in Edo, today's Tokyo, during the Edo period (1603–1868). Serving them cold with a dipping sauce, as zaru or mori soba, remains a summer favourite across Japan.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Zaru Soba (Cold Soba) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →