Buckwheat has been grown as a food crop all over Japan for many years.
Soba is the Japanese word for buckwheat. Buckwheat is lighter than wheat flour with a different and interesting flavor. Buckwheat noodles come apart when boiled so wheat flour is added as a binder to hold the noodles together. The result is a thin spaghetti type noodle that is brown in color and is served both hot and cold in a variety of recipes all over Japan. Does this Spark an idea?
Making Soba Noodles
Soba noodles are commonly made with a combination of 70 percent buckwheat flour and 30 percent wheat flour. This combination of flours is mixed with water to the desired consistency of dough. The dough is kneaded no more than four times so it does not become mushy. It is then cut into noodles. Each cook has his own soba noodle technique and it is usually kept a secret.
Nutritional Value
Rich in minerals and vitamins and containing all eight of the essential amino acids, soba noodles are a healthy food. A 4 oz. serving contains 286 calories, 56 carbohydrates and 12 g of protein. Buckwheat, from which the noodle is made, is a fruit and the nutritious kernel is ground into varying degrees of coarseness when it's used as flour.
Allergy
Soba noodles may trigger a hypersensitivity reaction due to allergies to buckwheat. It can cause severe reactions and can even be fatal, according to a 2008 report published by the University of Hawaii extension service. The National Institutes of Health estimates that the number of people with true food allergies is 6 to 8 percent of children under four and 3.7 percent of adults.
Medicinal Value
When diabetes treatment research began at Cornell University in 1999, buckwheat was found to have medicinal value. A substance called fagopyritol is present in buckwheat but not in people who have adult-onset diabetes.
Tags: wheat flour, over Japan