From Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories · 2016-2019 · Reconstructed
Toshikoshi Soba
Serve when
Serve at midnight, when Seita and Saori set their sibling rivalry aside to help Master serve New Year's soba to the whole diner.
In the series
Season 2
- S2E10 · ~00:22:40 Seita and Saori, feuding over who inherits the family soba business, help Master serve New Year's toshikoshi soba to the regulars as midnight strikes
In the series
Toshikoshi soba — "year-crossing noodles" — is the dish every Japanese household eats as the clock turns over, meant to be easy to bite through, a wish for a clean break from the year behind you. In the finale, it's also the dish that gets two feuding siblings working the same counter for one night, which the show treats as a small miracle in its own right.
Ingredients
Method
- Bring the dashi to a simmer with soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Keep it hot.
- Cook the soba noodles in a separate pot of boiling water according to the package, usually 4 to 5 minutes, then drain and rinse briefly under cold water to remove excess starch.
- Warm the rinsed noodles again in hot water for a few seconds if needed, then divide into bowls.
- Ladle the hot broth over the noodles.
- Top with tempura if using, scallions, and a pinch of shichimi togarashi.
Substitutions
- Store-bought soba: Any dried buckwheat soba works fine — the tradition is in the timing and the gesture, not a specific brand.