Tanuki Soba

Tanuki Soba

A classic Japanese noodle dish featuring buckwheat soba in a warm dashi-based broth, finished with a generous topping of crisp, salty tenkasu (tempura scraps). The name 'tanuki' refers to the playful folkloric raccoon dog, though the dish itself contains no fish or meat; the broth is built on dried bonito and anchovy (niboshi).

Prep

15 min

Cook

15 min

Total

30 min

Serves

2

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •180 g (6.3 oz) dried soba noodles, 100% buckwheat (juwari) or 80/20 buckwheat-wheat blend
• •15 g (0.5 oz) dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi), for dashi
• •10 g (0.35 oz) dried sardines (niboshi), heads and guts removed; for dashi
• •600 ml (2½ cups) water, cold, for dashi
• •60 ml (¼ cup) soy sauce (koikuchi)
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) mirin
• •5 g (1 tsp) granulated sugar
• •30 g (1 oz) tenkasu (tempura scraps), store-bought is traditional and acceptable
• •1 stalk green onion (negi), thinly sliced
• •5 g (1 tsp) grated daikon, optional, for topping
• •0.5 tsp (½ tsp) shichimi togarashi, optional, for serving

Steps

1. 1 Make the dashi: Place the niboshi in 600 ml cold water in a small pot and soak for 10 minutes. Add the katsuobushi, bring just to a simmer over medium heat (do not boil), then immediately remove from heat and let steep for 2 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve lined with a coffee filter or cheesecloth, discarding the solids. You should have about 450 ml of clear dashi.
2. 2 Build the tsuyu (soup base): Return the strained dashi to the pot. Add the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Keep warm on low heat; do not boil. This is the broth you will ladle into serving bowls.
3. 3 Cook the soba: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the soba and stir immediately to prevent sticking. Cook according to package directions, typically 4–5 minutes for dried soba, until just tender with a slight bite (al dente).
4. 4 Rinse the noodles: Drain the soba in a colander and rinse vigorously under cold running water, rubbing the noodles between your hands to remove surface starch. This step is essential for the clean, firm texture characteristic of proper soba.
5. 5 Warm the bowls: Fill two large serving bowls with hot tap water to warm them, then empty.
6. 6 Assemble: Place a portion of drained, rinsed soba into each warmed bowl. Ladle the hot tsuyu over the noodles (about 225 ml per bowl) to come roughly halfway up the noodles.
7. 7 Top: Sprinkle a generous handful of tenkasu (about 15 g per bowl) over the noodles so it sits on top and gradually absorbs the broth. Garnish with sliced green onion and grated daikon if using. Serve immediately with shichimi togarashi on the side. Eat with chopsticks, lifting the noodles while sipping the broth from a renge (small flat spoon).