High schoolers a cut above in soba making stakes

Rurika Koike, 18, is a one of a kind national champion. She won the all-Japan high school tournament this summer for excellence in the art of making soba noodles.In the annual championship, 154 students from 32 schools spanning northern to southwestern Japan don caps and white aprons to test their noodle-making skills over exactly 40 minutes. They use a blend of buckwheat and wheat flour to come up with the final product.Examiners keep close tabs on the way competitors mix the buckwheat powder with water and how they knead, stretch and cut the dough into noodles. They also monitor the prepa…READ FULL ARTICLE