soba restaurant Taiko(泰光)

Assalamualaikum and hello everyone.
Did you know that soba noodle is one of the famous food in Yamagata prefecture? So, we visited this long established soba restaurant, Taiko(泰光), to experience ourselves the greatness of the soba. Even though the restaurant' soba dishes contain haram ingredients such as mirin, after explaining to the staff about halal requirements, they made some adjustments to their menu specially for us. So, if you're a Muslim and explain them nicely, insyaAllah, they will understand and serve halal soba noodles for you. The eating experience was great. The soba has nice texture and tastes great especially with raw eggs and shoyu (japanese soy sauce). So, if you're in Yamagata, make sure to have your soba here!
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jgEF2gLsAdJ2

Soba pudding

[Soba pudding]
Assalamualaikum everyone.
Have you ever tried soba pudding? If you haven't, you should try it. I've gotten the chance to try this Yuta Koubou (愉多工房) soba pudding when I purchased it at a train station near Naruko (鳴子). As the name suggests, the pudding is made from soba flour. And the pudding is best eaten with kinako(sweetened soy bean) powder that comes together with it. The taste was great, plus
the pudding is quite creamy too. I highly recommend this unique product with unique flavor to everyone. Try it!

Yuta Kobo(愉多工房)
37 Shita-hashimoto, Aza, Kaminome, Iwadeyama, Osaki City, Miyagi prefecture
☎:0229-72-0972

Bentenya-sobarestaurant

Assalamualaykum,
For foreign students who live near Sanjomachi, here is one restaurant that can serve halal Japanese foods: Bentenya (弁天茶屋) soba restaurant. (https://goo.gl/YcV2hF) But don’t forget to ask for a non-alcohol (mirin etc) soup and sauce when you order; “Tare
to tsuyu wa mirin ya alkooru nuki onegaishimasu!” is the magic words. They may ask you to wait for a little while, but they are willing to make the special soup and sauce (normal ones contain　mirin). It has a variety of Japanese cuisines and a nice roomy place. Check it out and enjoy!

Bentenya-sobarestaurant
11-27, Sanjyomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi prefecture
☎:022-718-6430

toshikoshi soba

Happy New Year’s Eve everybody!

As the end of year approaches, I want to tell you about one Japanese tradition that happens on only New Year’s Eve. How many of you have eaten noodles on very late night of New Year’s Eve? In fact, it is so late that it’s almost New Year’s Day.

In Japan, people commonly eat ‘toshikoshi soba’ or 'year-crossing buckwheat noodles' on the night of New Year’s Eve. But, why do they want to eat noodles after finishing often a big dinner to celebrate the end of the year? According to several sources, this tradition dates back to Edo period; people at that time believed that by eating buckwheat noodles, which is comparatively easy to cut while eating, at the end of the year, they can also cut out negative energy (that which brings calamity and disaster) and prevent it from flowing into the next year.

This tradition lives strong even today and it is said that more than 50 percent of Japanese still eat ‘toshikoshi soba’ on New Year’s Eve.

Now you know about this, hope you get a chance to eat soba noodles before 2016.

With Halal certified Mentsuyu produced by marujyu, a long-established soy sauce maker in Yamagata, Tohoku, you can make ‘toshikoshi soba’ on your own!

You don't feel like eating noodles at late night? Trust me, late night soba tastes really good.