Re: Dear vegans (although we are in the tiny minority), you're on the right track, bu
wikipedia.org/wiki/Soba "Soba (そば or 蕎麦) is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It usually refers to thin noodles made from buckwheat flour, or buckwheat and wheat flours (Nagano soba).
Soba is a good nutritional addition to a diet reliant on white rice and wheat flour. Thiamine, missing from white rice, is present in soba and eating thiamine (vitamin B1) prevents the disease beriberi. It contains lysine, which is lacking in wheat flour. Soba contains all eight essential amino acids. The tradition of eating soba arose in the Edo period."