Warigo soba and kamaage soba

What is Izumo soba?

Izumo soba is a food culture that represents the Izumo region. One of its characteristics is that it looks darker than regular soba, but it is highly nutritious and fragrant, and produces soba with a good flavor and texture.

[Wariko soba]

During the Edo period, in the castle town of Matsue, people would carry soba noodles in a square bento-like tiered box to eat outdoors. In this region, tiered boxes were called warigo at the time, and it is said that this is the origin of warigo soba. However, because the corners of a square box were difficult to clean and considered unsanitary, it changed to the round lacquerware we have today.

The soup was placed in a teapot-like container and poured directly onto the inside of the bowl before eating. This style has been passed down to the present day.

[Kamaage soba noodles]

Kamaage soba is said to have originated in the areas surrounding Izumo Taisha Shrine and other shrines.

In the tenth month of the lunar calendar, when gods from all over Japan gather, the "Kamiari Festival" is held at shrines in the Izumo region. It is said that in the past, food stalls would be set up around the shrines during this festival, and fresh soba noodles would be served hot and cooked in a pot.

Normally, soba noodles are washed after boiling, but since they were sold at a food stall, it was not possible to wash them each time, so the soba noodles were poured from a pot or kettle into a bowl, topped with thick soba soup, and then eaten with soup and condiments.

This style remains to this day and has become a typical way of eating Izumo soba, along with wariko soba.