Learn to Make Soba Noodles at Iitaka Roadside Station!

• Table of Contents
• Make Authentic Japanese Food with a Pro!
• What Are Soba Noodles?
• Let’s Get Cooking!
• What Else is at Iitaka Roadside Station?

Make Authentic Japanese Food with a Pro!

Have you ever wanted to make Japanese
noodles from scratch, but you’re not sure where to start?

Now’s your chance! Iitaka Roadside Station
in Matsusaka offers quick and easy workshops on making soba noodles from a chef
with over 40 years’ experience crafting Japanese food.

While recipes and videos online are helpful, it can
be hard to know what to trust—and besides, it’s more fun and easier to learn directly
from a pro!

What Are Soba Noodles?

When we think of Japanese noodles, ramen
likely comes to mind for many people. But soba (along with udon!) is among the
major and delicious noodles of Japan.

Basically, the difference breaks down like
this:

                 Ramen
- Noodles made from flour and kansui
(alkaline water)

                 Udon
- Wheat Flour Noodles

                 Soba
-Buckwheat Flour Noodles

Thickness varies on the chef or store, but
generally soba and ramen tend to be thinner, while udon are thicker. Broths
also vary, and soba, udon, and ramen can all be eaten hot or cold!

Let’s Get Cooking!

I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into
the workshop, but the chef (who goes by the all-encompassing “Sensei”) was
ultra-welcoming and friendly. He’s taught folks from abroad to make soba
before, and has enough English to make it work (Mix! Push! Roll!).

 

Turns out you make soba with three
ingredients:

-Soba Flour

-Wheat Flour

-Water

The soba flour was born and raised in
Matsusaka, so this is as local and natural as it gets!

You start by mixing the flour together.

Then add water, bit by bit. At this stage,
you get little balls clumping.

Didn’t seem like enough water, but as you
keep mixing, everything suddenly seems to come together... and now you have
dough!

Next is kneading. This felt very much like
bread or pasta dough, for those who’ve made those before.

Followed by rolling flat, in preparation
for cutting.

Folding into thirds to make slicing easier.

Chop, chop, chop…

These actually look like soba noodles!

You can tell from Sensei’s explanation and
demonstration that he’s very clearly a master at making food, and no matter
your age or experience level, he’ll make sure your soba is a success.

Sensei told me he’s had thousands of people
come to make soba, from kids to big groups, and every single person has been
successful.

Sensei was the artistic hand behind the
final presentation here.

And, of course, the best part is eating!

The noodles have a pleasant bite to them, and the quality of the ingredients makes the flavor much richer than anything store bought. It’s hard to believe I made these noodles by hand!

What Else is at Iitaka Roadside Station?

Sure, the soba noodle workshop is awesome, but
Iitaka Roadside Station has lots of other great stuff to make it worth the
trip.

The station has become known for its onsen
hot spring (very unique for a roadside station!), with beautiful views of the
surrounding nature.

On top of that, there’s a restaurant that
uses local ingredients, a morning/lunch café with light meals, and a store with
local specialty goods and produce.

The station also has a few cottages
available for reservation with views of the neighboring forest and nearby
access to the nearby Kushida River.

For those looking for a half-day, day trip,
or even an overnight trip in the beautiful Japanese countryside with some fun
activities, come check out Iitaka Roadside Station!

Tourist Information

Visitor
Information

Iitaka Roadside Station

Address: 177 Iitakacho Miyamae, Matsusaka, Mie 515-1502

Phone: 0598-46-1111

Website (Japanese): www.iitakaeki.com

Closed on Wednesdays

Soba Workshop

Hours: 10:00 – 15:00

Reservations: Recommended. Call the Roadside Station front desk.

Time: About 2 hours (1 hour to make the noodles, 1 hour to cook and eat)

Number
of people: 1 and up. Max 9 for walk-ins. Call for
larger groups.

Pricing is by batch of dough and number of people. Max 3 people/1 batch.

Per Batch of Dough:

1 person/￥2,500

2 people/￥3,800

3 people/￥5,100