soba festival

I went to Uchinokaya in Ina with my family to join a soba festival. They served the "gyoja" soba.


Gyoja soba

"Gyoja" means a monk in Japanese. Long ago, a monk stopped by there on his way to the Mt. Komagatake, where he was supposed to have an ascetic training.

Because he was only too glad to be heartily received there, he gave them a handful of seeds of buckweat. Since then, they have raised and enjoyed the soba.

Generally, we enjoy the Gyoja soba with sauce dip, which is a sort of miso soup with pungent grated radish.

I enjoyed the same way above over a can of beer. That really hit the spot!!