With summer approaching and humidity blanketing the land, there is no better meal than some cold noodles to cool down. Japan is home to a number of these dishes such as soba, somen, udon, jyajan-men, and the lesser-known reimen (冷麺). While I’d heard of and tasted the others before, reimen was a whole new experience, and a pleasant one at that.
Here’s what you need to know about this cold noodle dish.
Foreign origins
Now home to the Tohoku Region, but mostly in Morioka of Iwate Prefecture, reimen was first introduced to Japan by Korean immigrants. Today, it’s a combination of two varieties of the cold noodle dish known as naengmyeon, mul-naengmyeon and bibim–naengmyeon.
Chewy potato starch noodles in a cold soup broth, accompanied with a spicy concoction of pickled cabbage and gochujang chili paste are the norm.
In the noodles we’ve eaten, reimen is served with a boiled egg, slice of beef, Asian pear or watermelon, and cucumbers. Most of the time, the chili paste is mixed in unless otherwise specified.
Google, find me some reimen
If you are looking to try some for yourself, you won’t have to look too hard for these cold noodles. A number of restaurants in Morioka serve reimen, especially at yakiniku (BBQ meat) establishments, another Korean invention.
Reimen from Seiroukaku
Pictured above is reimen from 盛楼閣 (Seiroukaku), a yakiniku restaurant in the GEN plaza across the street from Morioka Station.
We’ve also tried noodles from ぴょんぴょん舎 (Pyonpyon-sya) along Route 46, a restaurant which serves other Korean dishes and lunch sets. As well from the extremely popular 肉の米内 (Niku no yonai), and as a side order from 焼肉きんぐ (Yakiniku King), a 食べ放題 (tabehoudai, all-you-can-eat) restaurant near Aeon Mall.
Like it so much and want to make it for yourself? The Station and some supermarkets sell packaged box sets for your cooking pleasure.
Sweet, salty, refreshing
What sets reimen apart from other cold noodles is the soup and spicy dressing. While other dishes are flavoured with dashi and soy sauce broth, key components of Japanese cuisine, reimen is entirely original. Spicy ingredients are also not as typical, but the flavours have been wholly embraced.
Reimen from Pyonpyon-sya
In addition, the texture of the noodles is much bouncier than that of soba or udon, making it a fun dish to eat. And although it might seem out of place, the piece of fruit left soaking in the bowl further adds to the experience, leaving you with a satisfying, sweet crunch at the end of the meal.
Of course, the style of preparation varies ever-so-slightly between restaurants, from the taste of the soup to the pieces of cabbage in gochujang. Come try a few bowls for yourself and taste the difference.
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-Waifu ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
Because I'm Waifu 