🍜 Iya soba
The Iya area of Miyoshi City is famous for soba (buckwheat noodles). It is said that when the Heike clan, defeated in the Genpei War, fled to Iya, they began to grow buckwheat seeds in the area. Since rice is difficult to grow in Iya, buckwheat, which is easy to grow and has a short growing season, has become a staple food. Iya soba is a local dish representative of the Iya region. Made with 100% local buckwheat flour, it is the soul food of the Iya region. It is also called "soba-kiri" (buckwheat noodles) because the noodles are easily cut and become thick and short. Fresh water from Iya is used for the water used to knead the buckwheat flour and for the soup stock, and Iya ingredients are also used for the ingredients. Other soba dishes, such as "buckwheat rice porridge," in which the buckwheat seeds are used as they are, are also prepared in abundance in Iya.