Japanese
Vegan
Gluten freeSobacha
Roasted buckwheat tea
そば茶 (sobacha): roasted buckwheat tea with a nutty, toasted flavour
Sobacha is roasted buckwheat tea, drunk all over Japan and especially in the soba country of Nagano and Hokkaido, where it is poured free in noodle shops and kept in jugs in the fridge through summer. Toasted buckwheat groats are steeped in hot water to make a golden, caffeine-free tea with a nutty, almost popcorn aroma, and the softened groats can be eaten too, stirred into rice or salads. Nothing is added: no salt, no sugar, so about 0.0 g salt per cup. The usual mistake is burning the groats when roasting your own; keep the heat at medium and keep the pan moving. Use Tartary buckwheat (dattan soba) for a deeper yellow tea. Anyone with a buckwheat allergy should avoid it, as reactions can be serious. Chef's tip: steep a second time with slightly hotter water; the second cup is often the sweetest.
- Prep
- 2 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Serves
- 2
- Per serving
- 5 kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups waterjust off the boil
Tick what you have; the rest goes in the basket.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: If your 3 tbsp raw buckwheat kernels (or ready-roasted sobacha) is raw, toast it in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes, shaking constantly, until deep golden-brown and smelling nutty. Tip onto a plate to cool. Skip this if it is ready-roasted.
6 minStep 2: Put the roasted groats in a teapot and pour over the 2 cups water at about 203°F.
1 minStep 3: Steep for 3 minutes, until the tea is amber. Pour into cups, holding back the groats.
3 minStep 4: Drink hot, or cool and chill for iced sobacha. Eat the soft groats with rice or salad if you like.
1 min
KrazyBadal
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Yaki onigiriGrilled rice balls
Yaki onigiri (焼きおにぎり) are rice balls grilled until they form a crisp, toasty crust, then brushed with soy sauce glaze. They are eaten all over Japan, at izakaya, at barbecues and from the freezer section, as a snack or with miso soup. The inside stays soft and steamy while the outside crackles. Best eaten hot, straight from the pan. Chef's tip: let the shaped rice balls dry for 10 minutes before they go in the pan. A drier surface forms a better crust and won't stick, and the glaze goes on only at the end so it doesn't burn.
Miso soup
Miso soup (味噌汁) is drunk every day in homes all over Japan, at breakfast as well as dinner, beside a bowl of rice. The base is dashi; this vegan version uses kombu and dried shiitake instead of bonito, which gives it a deep, rounded flavour. Silken tofu and wakame seaweed are the classic fillings. It takes ten minutes; just remember not to boil the miso. Chef's tip: add the miso at the very end and never let it boil. Boiling kills the miso's fresh, fermented aroma; Japanese cooks say the soup should only 'smile', with the surface barely trembling.
Agedashi tofuFried tofu in warm broth
Agedashi tofu (揚げ出し豆腐) is a classic izakaya dish eaten all over Japan: cubes of soft tofu dusted in potato starch, fried until they form a thin, crisp shell, then bathed in a hot, savoury broth. The coating turns silky as it soaks up the sauce while the tofu inside stays creamy. Usually topped with bonito flakes; here it's grated daikon, ginger and spring onion with a kombu-shiitake broth instead. Chef's tip: coat the tofu in starch right before it goes into the oil, not ahead of time; if it sits, the starch turns damp and the coating fries up gummy instead of crisp.