Soba are native Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour. They are roughly as thick as spaghetti, and they are prepared in a variety of hot and cold dishes. The most basic soba dish is "zaru soba", in which boiled, cold soba noodles are served with a dipping sauce. Like pasta, soba noodles are available in dried form in supermarkets, but they taste best if freshly made by hand from flour and water.

Nutritionally speaking, buckwheat provides vitamins B1 and B2, several minerals, and nearly twice the amount of proteins found in rice. Rutin, a kind of bioflavonoid that includes the catechins of green tea and the polyphenols of red wine, is not found in other grains or beans, but is contained in great quantity in buckwheat. This bioflavonoid strengthens capillaries and so helps people suffering from arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure. Recent studies indicate that rutin is also a powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals, which are responsible for many cancers.