Tensoba

Tensoba

Type	Japanese noodles
Place of origin	Japan
Main ingredients	Noodles (soba), tempura
Media: Tensoba

Tensoba, or Tempura Soba is a Japanese dish of soba noodles and tempura.

Overview

There are two varieties of tensoba. One is served with hot broth using dashi and soy sauce, and the other one is served with cooled soba and dipped in chilled/hot tsukejiru (lit. dipping sauce), usually strongly flavored.

The dipping variety is also called 'Tenzaru-soba' or 'Ten-seiro,' depending on the soba shop or stand.

History

The origin of Tensoba is developed in mid-Edo-period, which story said that tensoba is begun to eat hot broth soba with kakiage, using adductor muscle of surf clam. In that period, shrimp-tempura soba is more expensive than other ingredients. So, shrimp-tempura-soba is also called 'Jo-tempura soba' (lit. upper class tempura-soba) or 'Ebiten-soba'. And just like Tendon, tensoba uses many kind of vegetable or seafood tempura, or kakiage (lit. scratch tempura, using plural ingredients mixture of vegetable bits and/or seafood bits).

Regional variety

There are some regional varieties for tensoba toppings. In Kanto and Kyushu, the soba shops often use satsuma age (fried fish cake) or chikuwa as tempura. And those two fish cakes are sometimes batter-fried.