So much more than ramen: in praise of Japan's other noodles (2024)

Ramen is considered by many Japanese to be cheap, unhealthy ‘fast’ food eaten rarely by anyone other than struggling students or ‘salarymen’ looking to sober up on their mad dash to catch the last train out of Tokyo.

Soba noodles, made from nutritious buckwheat, are probably the furthest leap away from addictive ramen that one could take. Whilst they too are considered a snack or a light meal on their own they are of the healthy, nutritious and low-fat variety. In a more substantial sense a bowl of soba, in one of various forms, forges the centerpiece of a well-rounded meal when eaten alongside a range of small vegetable and meat or soy-based protein sides and pickles – in Japan this is always a highly considered but seemingly relaxed affair of flavour and texture.

Soba noodles, made from 100 per cent buckwheat, are not only chock full of appealing nutty flavour, insoluble fibre and antioxidants but they are gluten-free, for those with related sensitivities. Do be warned, however, that the packets of soba noodles you buy in the supermarket and even those served freshly handmade in soba joints in Japan usually have at least a small to moderate component of wheat flour to allow for easy handling and less breakage during production – without the finer flour they are stiffer, more fragile and potentially profit erasing.

Light on the stomach, and believed to help keep

and blood pressure in check due to the

, soba noodles are very popular year round with the almost inherently diet conscious Japanese – served hot with savoury broth (kake soba) in the cooler months and enjoyed chilled (zaru soba - get our recipe

) in summer with a flavoursome dipping sauce (tsuyu) and condiments such as spring onion, wasabi or grated ginger. The cooking broth (soba yu) is so rich in nutrients it is often used to dilute the leftover dipping sauce and sipped at the end of the meal.

Seasonal and regional, soba dough can be flavoured, scented and coloured with natural ingredients such as salted cherry blossoms in spring or matcha (ground high-grade green tea) in tea-growing regions – making them a versatile and attractive noodle.

Get the recipe for Soba noodles with ankake broth (ankake soba)

If not, why not? Fat, slippery, round and creamy, white udon noodles are sublimely comforting – particularly on a cold winter’s day. They’re the only member of the Japanese noodle family that closely emulate the sense of downing a bowlful of your favourite pasta strands – minus any heavy sauces of course! In short, udon are hearty and filling but offer a cleaner, easier-to-digest option to ramen, particularly if you choose one with fresh vegetable add-ons.

Most commonly, the slightly chewy, wheat-based udon are served in deep bowls covered in nutritious dashi-based broth seasoned with soy and mirin. As with most Japanese noodle dishes, a common list of toppings are offered and regional and seasonal varieties strive to keep things interesting.

In Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, the locals are gaga over soup-curry udon, a thin brothy version of the more readily available kare udon (udon in a thick curry sauce). Laden with fresh, seasonal vegetables and a small portion of grilled or fried meat, this dish is a serious contender for the title of the tastiest of Japan’s healthier soup-style noodles.

The baby bear of the wheat noodle world, these hair-like threads boast an incredibly delicate mouth-feel compared with their thicker siblings hiyamugi and the more dense udon –but let’s not get hung up on ‘somentics’.

Somen are most popularly served during Japan’s hot and humid summers when you can barely be bothered eating – let alone cooking. Presented chilled, often over ice, with a salty dipping sauce (tsuyu) and invigorating, appetite-stimulating seasonings and condiments, they are refreshing, nourishing and light on the palate and gullet. In specialist nagashi somen restaurants the noodles are shot down open-topped bamboo pipes of flowing ice-cold water to be ‘caught’ by your chopsticks. If somen are eaten in the cooler months it is always in a hot delicate broth and referred to as nyumen.

Somen take around two minutes to cook, making them the perfect alternative to those additive-saturated quick cooking snack noodles you have in the pantry – come on, don’t deny it!

Get the recipe for Chilled somen noodles with dipping sauce (hiyashi somen)

Don’t fret if wheat is not your friend –the ultra-considerate Japanese have you covered with a selection of ‘noodles’ made from alternative ingredients:

Shirataki – made from the starch of the konjac or Devil’s tongue plant. The Japanese use the gelatinous plant in several applications as a ‘filler’ ingredient in soups, simmered dishes and hotpots as it has next to no flavour of its own, is almost calorie free and is dosed up with fibre.

Harusame – made from potato or mung bean starch. Typically used in salads or added to hotpots or spring rolls.

Kuzukiri – gelatinous noodles made from kuzu root starch. Used in hotpots or desserts.

Surimi-min – made from fish paste and a little potato starch. Most popularly used in elegant Kaiseki cuisine.

Get the recipe for Fish-paste noodles (surimi-men)

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