Alternative to soba noodle cups or soba ramen

A discount store with several grocery aisle carries these soba noddles. There are four small servings in a packet and I usually cook up two at a time. The package is less than a dollar-fifty. The noodles are good, and instead of a chemical packet of flavorings, I add tamari and/scallions and/or peanuts, etc.

Buckwheat bucket

I like to plant specific types of buckwheat in different areas, in order to evaluate which seeds do better where. I know it's mostly common buckwheat, but some sellers collect and store the seeds in different ways, and some of it I don't really know the age on.

I had a baggie with some "scrap" bnckwheat seeds and chaff in it -- Sometimes seed I sowed comes up long after I planted it, and I get a little "surprise" crop. So that's where this seed came from, and I decided to sow it in a white plastic pail with draining holes drilled in it. I'm enjoying looking at the cloverlike foliage. We'll see if it flowers and makes seed. I did move it away from the back door to the other end of the deck, as some bees were alrady arguing with me about whose buckwheat it is.

I'll take more photos as the plants develop and post them here on the blog.

Buckwheat crisps

I received a package of these crispy buckwheat crackers as a gift. I like 'em. They remind me of rice cakes in taste, with a thinner, crispier texture. 

French buckwheat ("Saracen wheat") flour

Vintage ads for buckwheat products

High school soba noodle event

This video heartens me, as I love to see tradition staying alive with youth participation. 

Authentic soba noodle-making

Traditional soba noodles, and how they're made. 

This video is both informative and enjoyable. 

Caring for my soba-cutting knife

The kiri (cleaver for slicing buckwheat noodles) has a stainless steel blade, so I looked up this information on how to keep the blade from rusting. The key seems to be to help the metal form a strong patina. 

Cutting soba noodles

This chef shows how it's done.

Restoring a rusty knife used for cutting soba noodles

The blade of a kiri is usually made of carbon steel and not stainless steel, and while I hope I never let mine get corroded by rust, it's good to know how to restore the blade, as in this video.

Ordered a knife to cut soba noodles!

There was a $5 price drop on a beginner's soba knife, and I decided to go for it.

Montana buckwheat comes in two forms

The buckwheat usually discussed on this blog is the long-stems variety with white flowers and dark kernals at the top. But Montana has two kinds of shrubby buckwheat, one more low-growing than the other.

Here is a link to information about "mat" buckwheat.

The same site has a different page about "smooth" buckwheat.