Tokushima Sobagome Zosui

Quick answer

Total time: 515 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 14

About this dish

Tokushima sobagome zosui is a buckwheat-grain soup from the mountainous Iya region.

Instead of grinding buckwheat into flour or noodles, hulled whole groats called sobagome are boiled separately, rinsed, and added to a niboshi and shiitake broth with chicken, carrot, konjac, chikuwa, and scallion. Tradition connects the dish with Heike people who reached Iya and adopted fast-growing buckwheat where rice was difficult to cultivate. The groats swell to about four times their dry weight after 10 to 15 minutes of boiling. Adding them only after the broth is seasoned preserves their distinct tender, bead-like bite. At New Year, mountain vegetables or wild bird once made it a feast.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
hulled buckwheat groats	120	g
water for boiling groats	960	ml
chicken thigh	100	g
sake	1.25	tbsp
chikuwa	1	piece
carrot	50	g
dried shiitake	2	piece
shiitake soaking water	200	ml
konjac	100	g
green scallion	2	piece
water for dashi	800	ml
dried sardines	12	piece
light soy sauce	3	tbsp
mirin	0.5	tbsp

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

5 steps

1

Prep

Refrigerate shiitake in 200ml water and niboshi in 800ml water for 8 hours.

Slice mushrooms and strain both liquids.
2

Heat

Boil 120g groats in 960ml water for 10 to 15 minutes.

When about four times larger and tender, rinse cold and drain.
3

Prep

Cut 100g skinless chicken to 1cm and marinate in 1.25 tablespoons sake 10 minutes.

Cut carrot, konjac, and chikuwa to 1cm and slice scallions.
4

Control

Boil both soaking liquids, remove niboshi, add chicken and vegetables, and simmer 10 minutes until chicken is opaque and at least 74°C.
5

Finish

Season with soy and mirin, add cooked groats, and boil 2 minutes.

Top with scallion and serve before grains absorb too much broth.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Whole hulled buckwheat instead of flour
Finish cue: Boil both soaking liquids, remove niboshi, add chicken and vegetables, and simmer 10 minutes until chicken is opaque and at least 74°C.
Avoid this: Boil and rinse groats separately and add for only 2 minutes so they do not disintegrate.
Substitution: Instead of grinding buckwheat into flour or noodles, hulled whole groats called sobagome are boiled separately, rinsed, and added to a niboshi and shiitake broth with chicken, carrot, konjac, chikuwa, and scallion.
Storage and reheating: Refrigerate shiitake in 200ml water and niboshi in 800ml water for 8 hours.