Omedetou Gozaimasu Japan! In case you haven’t heard, earlier today Japan won the World Cup for women’s soccer beating the first-ranked team USA in penalty kicks. It was a nail-biting game. Just when I’d think Japan was done for they’d come back to tie the game. They eventually won with Saki Kumagai scoring the third penalty kick on US goalkeeper Hope Solo.

Maybe it was Japan fever, or maybe it was the 90-degree heat, but it seemed like a good evening for zaru soba, or cold buckwheat noodles. Zaru is a bamboo strainer on which you serve cold soba noodles that are then dipped into a sauce called soba tsuyu, which is soy sauce, mirin, and bonito flakes. To the sauce I like to add scallions, shiso, and wasabi. Dip, slurp, delight.

To round out the meal, there was edamame, boiled and salted, silken tofu with bonito flakes and soy sauce, and the fermented, smelly soy beans known as natto. Hm, a lot of soy I suppose.

To make the zaru soba, you just cook the soba noodles the way you would pasta: bring a pot of water to boil, add the noodles, and boil for approximately 4 minutes. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water for a couple minutes. You then place the noodles on a plate or on a zaru with some ice cubes (this is where the zaru comes in handy but it’s definitely not necessary – it just drains the melting ice cubes as you eat). You pour the dipping sauce into a small bowl, add scallions if you have them and some shiso or wasabi, and it’s time to eat.

Some other photos from this weekend’s eating adventures, including Saturday morning at Blue Bottle; the McCarren Park farmer’s market; a tart from Bakeri; the courtyard at MoMA P.S. 1 in Long Island City; and a shattered foodie’s dream: M. Wells closed due to a water main break.