Somen (Chilled Noodles) 素麺 – Chopstick Chronicles

Craving a light-weight and refreshing meal? Attempt somen! These skinny, delicate, and silky noodles are good for decent summer season days. The noodles are sometimes served chilled with quite a lot of toppings and a tasty savory dipping sauce. The recipe may be very simple and the noodles are prepared in simply minutes!

What are Somen Noodles?

Somen noodles are a kind of skinny, delicate Japanese noodle produced from wheat flour. They’re recognized for his or her silky texture and refined taste and are sometimes about 1mm in diameter. Not like thicker noodles like udon, soba, or ramen, somen noodles are extremely advantageous and prepare dinner in only a couple minutes. Historically, the noodles are serve chilled for a chilly refreshing dish throughout the scorching climate in the summertime months. A wide range of toppings like sliced omelette, ham, shiitake mushrooms, and cucumber are served with the somen together with a light-weight and chilly dipping sauce. The sauce, known as mentsuyu, is produced from dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar which creates a savoury however barely candy umami flavour. 

Though somen is usually a chilly summertime dish, the noodles will also be served scorching in soups throughout cooler seasons which known as Nyumen.

Principal Components Wanted to Make Somen?

Somen Noodles

The star ingredient is the somen noodles themselves. These are very skinny, white noodles made primarily from wheat flour. They’re normally offered dried in bundles in packets. The bundles weight differ depends upon the model of somen. Round 100g is an effective portion for one particular person. You will discover somen in Asian and Japanese grocery shops. It might even be accessible within the worldwide part of some bigger supermarkets.

Tsuyu Dipping Sauce

The standard dipping sauce for somen known as tsuyu. It sometimes consists of:

Toppings

• Shimmered Shiitake Mushrooom
• Kinshi Tamago (skinny egg omelette)
• Julienned cucumbers 
• Thinly sliced ham 
• Okra items
• Mini cherry tomatoes
• Rooster slices
• Aburaage (fried tofu)

Garnishes

• Chopped inexperienced onions (negi)
• Grated ginger
• Shredded nori (seaweed)
• Grated wasabi
• Shredded myoga
• Shredded inexperienced shiso leaves
• Sesame seeds

Making ready Somen

1. Begin by getting ready the tsuyu dipping sauce. This mild umami soup is produced from Japanese dashi broth, soy sauce and mirin. Add a little bit of sugar too in the event you prefer it extra candy. Mentsuyu will also be purchased pre-made in shops and on-line. Nonetheless be certain to observe the package deal directions as it might should be diluted.
2. Put together toppings and garnishes like omelette, sliced ham, chopped inexperienced onions, grated ginger, shredded nori, and so on.
3. Cook dinner somen noodles. Boil 1.5 L of water in a big pot (as a information you want 1 L of water for 100g somen) and add the noodles. When the noodles begin to float, add about 1/2 cup of water to forestall them from boiling over. When the noodles begin to float once more, flip off the warmth. Somen noodles prepare dinner in a short time due to how skinny they’re. They solely require 2-3 minutes of boiling in a pot. Be certain to stir often whereas cooking to keep away from the noodles sticking collectively. Or boil in line with the package deal directions. Drain and rinse the cooked noodles below chilly water (to take away any extra vegetable oil used on the noodles throughout manufacturing) and chill them in an ice tub.
4. Serve the chilly noodles in a bowl with ice together with the chilled tsuyu and your alternative of toppings and garnishes.

Yakumi Garnish Variations

Somen noodles style scrumptious with greens and proteins, nevertheless it will also be served plain with just some easy garnishes. The garnishes add a pleasant chunk and contact of additional taste to the tsuyu dipping sauce. The easiest way to serve with garnishes is by including them on to the tsuyu. This makes the dipping sauce much more flavourful and fragrant. You should utilize finely chopped scallions and grated ginger or thinly sliced myoga or shiso leaf (if you will discover them).

The best way to Serve Chilly Somen Noodles

In Japan, somen is commonly loved as a part of nagashi somen (flowing somen) throughout summer season festivals, the place the noodles are despatched down bamboo chutes with chilly working water for individuals to catch with their chopsticks. It’s a enjoyable and refreshing solution to take pleasure in this easy dish in the event you ever have the prospect to take action in Japan. At house, you may serve the noodles in a bowl with ice to maintain all of it chilly and contemporary. Everybody ought to have their very own little bowl of tsuyu broth to dip the noodles into and quite a lot of toppings could be positioned on a plate for everybody to choose what they need.