There’s an uncommon linguistic quirk in Japan wherein you’ll typically see soba noodle eating places providing a dish referred to as niku soba, or “meat soba.” Whereas the identify makes it look like the topping choices may very well be huge open, niku soba (or niku udon, for those who’re at a restaurant that serves udon noodles) typically means skinny strips of pork or beef. Which one? It varies by restaurant, however surprisingly most individuals are OK with the vagueness.
Nevertheless, at Matsuishi, a noodle restaurant in downtown Tokyo’s Takadanobaba neighborhood, they’re just a little extra exact. If you faucet the button for niku soba on the order touchscreen, you’re then given the choice to decide on the particular kind of meat you need. As proven within the photograph beneath, the choice on the backside is floor pork (豚挽肉), and above which can be beef (牛), rooster (鶏) and pork (豚).
Oh, and the highest row, with the kanji 熊? That’s for if you’d like the meat in your meat soba to be bear.
Sure, the kanji of the yr in 2025 can be the particular of the month at Matsuishi, which as of January 13 is providing bear soba. This isn’t in any respect a standard dish in Japan, and even bear meat itself is often fairly exhausting to search out, particularly within the large metropolis. Matsuishi’s received it although, and so our soba-loving reporter Seiji Nakazawa determined to purchase himself a bowl.
In distinction to their precision relating to meat sorts, the numbers on Matsushi’s order display are sort of mysterious, however they appear to be indicating the quantity of meat you get together with your noodles, with the small, medium, and large-size bear soba having 20, 40, or 60 % of the meat of a baseline bowl of pork soba. Nonetheless, even the biggest, the 0.6 bear soba, is fairly inexpensive at 1,220 yen, in order that’s what Seiji selected.
His fears about not having a filling portion disappeared because the workers set his soba in entrance of him. Seiji took a second to admire the ample strips of thick meat floating on the floor, surrounded by tempura flakes, greens, an egg cracked into the broth to prepare dinner, and a sprinkling of sliced inexperienced onion.
Seiji had eaten bear a number of occasions earlier than this, and his recollection is that the meat can typically be powerful and sinuous. Truthfully, he wasn’t positive it’d be a good selection to make use of for niku soba, since you possibly can’t minimize the meat into smaller items if the firmness makes it too exhausting to chew on an enormous chunk.
However this turned out to not be a difficulty in any respect. Although agency, the bear meat had tenderized whereas stewing, and as he bit into it, Seiji’s style buds have been greeted by what he describes as a wealthy umami sensation with each candy and savory notes. As he chewed, the style of the broth that the bear meat had soaked up have been launched, mixing collectively in an inviting concord that smoothed out the gaminess that bear can typically have, making Seiji really recognize the ability of Matsuishi’s cooking workers.
Talking of the broth, Matsuishi has a singular recipe that, in contrast to many different noodle eating places, makes use of no sugar or mirin (candy cooking sake), however nonetheless reveals a deep, wealthy taste because of including Kyushu-style soy sauce, sweeter than the sort utilized in different elements of Japan, to the dashi inventory.
Seiji had gone into this style check anticipating a country consuming expertise, maybe one that will be too rustic for a metropolis slicker like him to deal with. As a substitute, he’d been given a sublime alternative to problem and broaden his palate, and whereas Matsuishi’s bear niku soba is a limited-time/while-supplies-last deal, he’s glad to have tried it, and would eat it once more.
Restaurant data
Matsuishi / 松石
Handle: Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Takadanobaba 1-16-7, Meiten Constructing basement stage 1
東京都新宿区高田馬場1-26-7 名店ビル B1F
Open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. (Monday-Friday), 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Saturday)
Closed Mondays and holidays
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