Glorious Okinawan Soba!

Once or twice a year I have to break down and spend the hours it takes to make Okinawan Soba, probably one of my all-time favorite foods.  I spent the last three evenings preparing and precooking.  Here's the culmination.  So yummy!

If you're curious, the pink and white stuff is kamaboko (steamed fish cake), the red stuff is kizami shoga (pickled ginger).  Also, there's head-on shrimp and glazed pork belly.  The pork alone took about 3 hours to prepare, but is ridiculously sweet and delicious.  All on top of buckwheat noodles.

Next time I'll try making the noodles from scratch too.  The right noodles can't be purchased.  In Okinawa the dough is prepared with wood ash water; wood ashes are soaked over night then the water is skimmed off and used as the wet ingredient for the noodle dough.  I know, it sounds weird, but the taste is amazing!