It’s no secret that this summer is proving to be one of the hottest yet, worldwide. Luckily, up here in Morioka, Japan, the air is slightly cooler than those in the south. But, that doesn’t mean we aren’t sweating up a storm and desperately trying to keep cool. As many of you know, this makes summer meals tricky. It doesn’t have to be, however, with Japanese cold noodles called そうめん (somen).
Unlike soba or udon, somen is never typically eaten warm, as the noodles are thin and easily overcooked. So, the key is to pair them with the right dipping sauce and side dishes to spice up these otherwise plain wheat noodles.
The dipping sauce.
The traditional dipping sauce for somen is called mentsuyu (めんつゆ), and is basically made of soy sauce, mirin cooking wine, and dashi stock. You can purchase the concentrate or make your own at home. I like this recipe for the do-it-yourself version, but Honey and I typically purchase the sauce.
mentsuyu, ginger, wasabi
It’s also great for cold soba, agedashi tofu, and as an ingredient when cooking. The taste itself is sweet and salty with a burst of umami.
Extra toppings.
Along with the mentsuyu, we like to add sesame seeds, fresh green onion or negi, and rehydrated wakame seaweed.
If you’re not afraid of bold flavours, we also encourage you to add grated ginger, wasabi, or shiso leaves as you eat. The latter may be hard to find outside of Japan, however.
The side dishes.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty and talk about the side dishes. Really, you can pair anything with your somen, but keeping in line with our ‘cooling down’ trend, we ate our noodles with some tsukemono (漬物, pickled things) and tofu.
Sunomono (酢の物)
For the pickled vegetables, I prepared them ahead of time in order to allow the flavours to really marinate.
First off is sunomono, or cucumber salad. Cucumber, or kyuuri (きゅうり), is a great side dish because it has a high water content to keep you hydrated. Once the flesh is broken, a lot of the moisture is released, but it will also absorb whatever you soak it in, all the while maintaining its crunch.
This is the recipe for my sunomono. I later learned that its similar to chuka kyuuri (ちゅか きゅうり), a Chinese-style cucumber dish.
Kyuuri salad
- 3 Japanese cucumbers (an in-between of English & Persian)
- 2 dried chilis
- 2 T. (30 ml) liquid dashi
- 1 T. (15ml) rice vinegar
- 2 t. (10 ml) mirin
- 1 t. (4g) sugar
- 1 t. (4g) salt
- Place cucumbers in a plastic bag and break apart with rolling pin. (really just go to town hitting it)
- Combine liquid ingredients. Add sliced chilis (remove the seeds).
- Seal mixture in bag or container and toss to coat. Let marinade for at least 12 hours.
- Drain the liquid and serve (don’t remove the chilis).
Misozuke nasu (味噌漬け なす)
Next up on our pickled foods list is misozuke nasu, or eggplant that has been pickled using miso paste. This type of tsukemono makes good use of any leftover eggplant you might have, and gives it a salty kick.
For a detailed recipe guide, you can refer to my article here.
Hiyayakko (冷奴)
Moving on from our vegetables, let’s talk protein.
If you really don’t want to do much cooking, look no further than hiyayakko, also known as tofu salad. It uses silken tofu and staple Japanese cooking ingredients for flavour.
Hiyayakko tofu salad
- 1 small block of silken tofu
- 1 T. (15ml) of soy sauce
- 1 t. of grated ginger
- katsuoboshi and negi for garnish
- Place block of tofu in serving dish. Add grated ginger on top.
- Pour soy sauce over. Garnish with as much katsuoboshi and negi as you like!
And fish sausage? (魚のソーセージ)
If you noticed something pink in the background of the cucumber salad picture, that’s our second protein side dish: fish sausage.
They come in a bundle of generally 5 sausages, and are ready-to-eat. Simply peel away the packaging and munch away.
If you’re familiar with kamaboko or naruto (not the anime; the fishcake that is often served in ramen), the taste of fish sausage is similar. The texture is bouncy, yet smooth when you bite in.
It’s not for everyone. But it’s very convenient because it’s shelf-stable. You can grill it a bit and use it as an ingredient, or eat as is. For us, it was an out-of-the-norm side dish that went surprisingly well with our noodles.
Some somen for the summer
Other than being regularly consumed in Japanese households, somen is also a typical dish for Tanabata (七夕, Star Festival), a celebration based off a Chinese folklore. Whatever the case, it’s like the blank canvas of noodles and a perfect, no-hassle meal to add to your collection of go-to’s for a hot summer’s day.
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-Waifu ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
Because I'm Waifu 