Toshikoshi soba is a traditional Japanese New Year’s Eve noodle soup eaten to welcome a long and healthy life in the coming year. This shrimp tempura soba recipe combines buckwheat noodles in a light soy-based broth with crispy tempura shrimp for a comforting yet elegant Japanese dish.
In this recipe, you’ll learn how to make shrimp tempura soba step by step, including how to prepare the shrimp, how to make light tempura batter, and how to cook soba noodles properly so they stay smooth and flavorful.
My Connection to Toshikoshi Soba — Japan’s New Year’s Eve Noodles for Wrapping Up the Year
For me, toshikoshi soba isn’t so much a special “celebration dish” as it is a quiet ritual — a way to gently close one year and welcome the next.
Growing up in Japan, there was always a bowl of soba on the table on the night of December 31st.
After the house was cleaned, the TV was on in the background, and the kitchen smelled of warm broth — that atmosphere itself became part of what “New Year’s Eve” meant to me.
In my family, my mother often made the broth using chicken bones instead of the more traditional bonito and kombu dashi. It was thick, comforting, and full of umami — and that became our version of toshikoshi soba.
One of the beautiful things about toshikoshi soba is that there are no strict rules about what must go into it.
What matters most is the meaning behind it: a wish for longevity, gratitude for the year that’s ending, and a peaceful transition into the new one.
That’s why, in this recipe, I use instant dashi. The end of the year is a busy time, and I wanted to share a version that’s easy, quick, and still deeply satisfying — something you can make even when you’re tired, but still want that moment of calm.
Tradition doesn’t have to be complicated.
If this bowl of soba becomes a small, quiet pause in your New Year’s Eve — just like it has been in mine — then it’s doing exactly what it’s meant to do.
Ingredients
Soba & Broth
• Water — 3 ¾ cups
• Soy sauce — 3 Tbsp
• Mirin — 3 Tbsp
• Sugar — 1 ½ tsp
• Dashi powder — 1 ½ tsp
• Salt — about 1 ¾ tsp
• Dried soba noodles — 2 bundles
Toppings
• Kamaboko (fish cake), sliced — 2 slices
• Green onion, sliced — 2 Tbsp
Shrimp Tempura
• Shrimp, peeled and deveined (tail on) — 4
For coating
• Cake flour — 3 Tbsp
Tempura batter
• All-purpose flour or cake flour — ¾ cup
• Cold water — 1 ½ cups + 2 Tbsp
• Egg — 1
• Salt — ¼ tsp
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the toppings
Slice the green onions and cut the kamaboko into thin slices. Set aside.
Step 2: Prepare the shrimp
Using kitchen scissors, cut along the back of the shrimp through the shell.
Peel off the shell, leaving only the tail attached.
Remove the vein, rinse the shrimp clean, and pat dry.
Make 4 shallow cuts along the belly side. Flip the shrimp over and gently press along the back to straighten it.
Step 3: Make the tempura batter
In a bowl, whisk the egg with the cold water. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring gently. Add the salt and mix lightly. Do not overmix; the batter should remain slightly lumpy.
Step 4: Fry the shrimp
Heat oil to about 350°F (175°C). Dip each shrimp into the batter and carefully place into the oil. Fry until pale golden and crisp. Remove and drain.
Step 5: Make the broth
In a pot, combine the water, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, dashi powder, and salt. Heat gently until just simmering. Do not let it boil.
Step 6: Cook the soba noodles
Cook the soba according to the package instructions.
Drain and rinse under cold running water to remove the starch, and drain well again.
Step 7: Assemble and serve
Divide the noodles between two bowls and pour the hot broth over them. Top with kamaboko, green onions, and shrimp tempura.
Toshikoshi soba
Ingredients
Method
- Slice the green onions and cut the kamaboko into thin slices. Set aside.
- Using kitchen scissors, cut along the back of the shrimp through the shell. Peel off the shell, leaving only the tail attached. Remove the vein, rinse the shrimp clean, and pat dry. Make 4 shallow cuts along the belly side. Flip the shrimp over and gently press along the back to straighten it.
- In a bowl, whisk the egg with the cold water. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring gently. Add the salt and mix lightly. Do not overmix; the batter should remain slightly lumpy.
- Heat oil to about 350°F (175°C). Dip each shrimp into the batter and carefully place into the oil. Fry until pale golden and crisp. Remove and drain.
- In a pot, combine the water, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, dashi powder, and salt. Heat gently until just simmering. Do not let it boil.
- Cook the soba according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse under cold running water to remove the starch, and drain well again.
- Divide the noodles between two bowls and pour the hot broth over them. Top with kamaboko, green onions, and shrimp tempura.
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