rantings of a hgb

For Christmas, D bought me a soba making class. The class was taught by soba master Shuichi Kotani of Soba Totto.

Since I actually took the class on Christmas day, I was the only student and D was allowed to watch and sample. We started off having a discussion of soba over some soba tea and soba chips. Teacher Kotani taught us the history and nutritonal value of soba, while we described our past experiences with soba, including having visited multiple world-renowned soba restaurants in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Manhattan. After that, he showed us his expertise by presenting a lunch consisting of hot soba, cold soba, complimented with a side of tempura.
Then came the fun part –hands-on soba making!


The class exceeded far beyond my expectations and I not only enjoyed the hours I was there, but am determined to master the skill of soba making by making use of the soba making kit I walked home with.
Today marked Take 2 of soba making. Did not go as smoothly with Teacher Kotani looking over me, but it was to be expected. My timing was good. Initial mixing with water was ok until I poured the last remaining bit in –too moist to touch. Will need to find better way of measuring water since Pyrex cup had 125cc as closest measurement. Dough kneading was ok as well. Had to rewatch the youtube video to refresh my memory of the steps. Dough rolling fine until it became too big for the rolling pin. Did not sprinkle enough Uchiko. Cutting good as soon as I got used to the knife. At the end, noodles felt a bit drier than what I took home yesterday. Unsure why that is the case.
While the soba making kit is a good starting point, I find that the quality may be hindered as I begin to perfect my own skills. Therefore, I’ve decided that for every 25 times I make soba, I will replace a tool.