Cha Soba vs. Soba: What is the Difference?
As you know, Soba (蕎麦), also known as Nihon Soba (日本蕎麦), is a traditional Japanese noodle made of buckwheat flour, which, based on the color, can be divided into three types.
Sarashina Soba is white like Somen noodles, Inaka Soba features a black hue derived from the buckwheat hull, and Yabu Soba gets its vibrant green from chlorella.
Meanwhile, Cha Soba (茶そば) is also green, but unlike Yabu Soba, the buckwheat noodle is colored with green tea.
What is Cha Soba (茶そば)?
Cha Soba is a type of Kawari Soba (変わりそば: queer Soba) made from buckwheat flour kneaded with Matcha green tea powder. So these green-tinted noodles have a fragrance of Matcha.
Incidentally, according to this Japanese site, Kawari Soba is the Soba noodles made from white buckwheat flour for Sarashina Soba, to which various kinds of thickeners or foods have been added and processed.
Cha Soba vs. Nihon Soba noodles
Lastly, let me explain how Cha Soba differs from regular Nihon Soba noodles. First, let’s start with ingredients.
Ingredients
Cha Soba noodles typically consist of buckwheat flour mixed with Matcha green tea powder and wheat flour, while Nihon Soba often consists of buckwheat flour and wheat flour.
Calories
As Cha Soba noodles contain green tea powder for extra flavor, in many cases, the green tea noodle is slightly high in calories compared to the regular Nihon Soba.
Regional Specialties
Nihon Soba is a commonly consumed buckwheat noodle produced in various areas of Japan, while Cha Soba is known as a regional specialty of Shizuoka and Yamaguchi Prefectures.
For instance, Yamaguchi’s Chasoba specialty Kawara Soba (瓦そば) is a unique dish where Cha Soba noodles and other ingredients are cooked together on a heated Kawara (瓦)/roof tile.
(Reference Pages: Wikipedia 瓦そば, Nikkoku Seifun, Nichimen )
