When we were brainstorming ideas for our January issue, thinking about what we crave this time of year and pontificating on what constitutes Seattle’s ultimate comfort food, it didn’t take long to come to the conclusion. When winter (OK, fall) comes to Seattle, we chase away the damp chill with giant, steaming bowls of noodles,…

There are no shortcuts at Mutsuko Soma’s Fremont soba studio. Here, in a tiny, sunny room, she makes the Japanese teuchi soba the way she learned at soba school in Japan, which she attended in 2008, after working at Seattle restaurants such as The Harvest Vine and Saito’s. First, she grinds her own Washington-grown buckwheat…

Legend has it that a female emperor in ancient China, suffering through a hot day, demanded her noodles be served cold instead of hot. It was her birthday that day, and thus began a tradition: Every birthday from that day forward she asked that her noodles be served cold. In modern-day Seattle, I think the…

ChineseHouse Special Barley Green Hand-shaven Chow Mein (shown above, left)at Shanghai Garden in Chinatown-International DistrictThe wide, tender green noodles (made with barley green powder) in Chinatown-International District’s most famous noodle dish are fresh—and taste as spring green as they look. They’re dressed in a light sauce with softly scrambled eggs, carrots, tender chicken, squiggly hunks…

[Chinese]Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup@ Szechuan Noodle BowlThis incredibly spicy broth is tinted a deep reddish-brown, its chile heat sure to clear your sinuses. And with beef that’s braised to an impossibly tender finish, ropey house-made noodles and firm bok choy for a hit of vitamin C, this is a soup we return to again and…