Okinawa Soba Factory Tour

Clearly, I'm a little behind in my blogging. However, I'm back and excited to talk the Soba Factory Tour that we took through NIOSC and Kadena ITT! It was perfect timing, too, because Mark's brother and niece were in town. Lastly, Mark got the day off making it a family fun event!

First, we put on aprons and funny head scarves - Mark's fancy Mickey Mouse apron was a gift from my parents (I have a matching Minny Mouse one). All of the stations were set up for us upon arrival and we had an English speaking guide, set up through Kadena ITT, that came in handy!

Then, we got a tutorial on how to make our soba noodles. Our translator took us through step-by-step instructions: combine the ingredients with our fingers, kneading the dough, and tossing (read: violently throw it) into the bowl before heading for a tour of the actual factory because it needed to rest for 30 minutes.

During the tour, our guide told us that Okinawa sells a ton of single serving sized soba because it's easy and it's best for single people. We got to see all the stages of the process and we even had the privilege of wearing fancy outfits!

Those are noodles. I thought it was paper when I first saw it. haha!

When we came back to the kitchen, the chef taught us how to roll out our dough, cut it, and prep it to be cooked. After we were all finished, we got in line so that we could eat! It was pretty cool being able to eat what we literally had just prepared. Then, we bought "kits" to make it at home using our leftover noodles. Yum!

So happy to eat!

Cooling his noodles off before tossing them in a bowl.

To book a tour, just call Kadena ITT. Sometimes, they have scheduled visits on their monthly schedules. If you have a big enough group (like us) you can do a private tour. Enjoy!