Soba Choko

Soba choko (そばちょこ in Japanese) is a cup for soba dipping sauce, into which soba noodles are dipped before eating. They are often made of ceramics, but some are made of lacquerware, wood, bamboo, glass, or plastic. The diameter and height of the mouth of soba choko are about the same, at 5-8cm, and there is no base, giving them a distinctive feature. The cup’s minimalistic design and size make them suitable for a wide range of uses in modern eating habits, and they are loved by many people both in Japan and overseas.

Soba choko dipping

How to use

When eating soba, you can put soba dipping sauce in the soba choko, or you can pour sobayu (buckwheat soup) into the cup and drink it after eating your soba. They are also used for a wide range of other purposes, such as coffee cups or tea cups, small bowls for serving side dishes, and dessert cups for ice cream and yogurt.

Daigaku-imo (Japanese-style candied sweet potato) and tea in soba choko

You can use a wide-mouthed teacup, a deep small bowl, or a rice bowl as a container for soba dipping broth.

"Choko" refers to a small vessel, and generally refers to a cup for drinking sake. Soba choko-sized vessels have been used to serve various dishes since the Edo period, but as soba became more widespread, they came to be used primarily to hold soba broth.

Ochoko, a sake vessel