Jan. 4 - One of my favorite Japanese New Year foods is "toshi-koshi soba." I like to eat these buckwheat noodles any time, but the image of a long thin noodle bridging the old and new years seems to make this dish especially appropriate on New Year's Eve.

Ann always prepares buckwheat noodles for us every year, no matter where we live. In the United States we visit an Asian food market to purchase dried buckwheat noodles for this dish. But here in Tokyo, we are fortunate to live near a wonderful traditional noodle shop called Sarashina Horii Soba. Founded in 1789, this shop is a real neighborhood fixture. When we take houseguests from America, they are impressed that this noodle shop is almost as old as the United States itself.

Just before New Years, Sarashina is so busy selling fresh home-made soba noodles that they set up a stand on the sidewalk outside to sell these noodles directly to passersby. Ann walked down to this stand on Dec. 30 to purchase a packet of soba noodles. On the evening of Dec. 31, she boiled these noodles up with homemade broth (tsuyu) just as her mother used to. Ann added some festive red and white fish cake (kamaboko), green onions, and a green leafy vegetable called mitsuba, to make a delicious final meal for 2010.

On the website of Sarashina Horii Soba, you can see other interesting photos and menu selections.